Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Elgethun Capital Management

Elgethun Capital Management lifted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the quarter. Elgethun Capital Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,089,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after purchasing an additional 37,477 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 3.7 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,284.02 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $4,757.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,760.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,374.90.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.