Argent Trust Co Has $8.30 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Argent Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $126.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $4,489.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 29,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,185. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4,721.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,760.98. The stock has a market cap of $147.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

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.