DRW Securities LLC Invests $497,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after acquiring an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $440,967,000 after acquiring an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $207,089,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 2.6 %

Booking stock opened at $4,494.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $147.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4,717.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,763.18. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush upped their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted 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 note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,327.28.

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.