Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 65.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in Booking by 268.5% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,147,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,561.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 27.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in Booking by 404.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Erste Group Bank cut Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,278.66.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4,689.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,779.24. The company has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.