Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Position Lifted by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 508.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,496 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.06% of Booking worth $95,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Booking by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,459,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,299.29.

Booking Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,086.10 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,672.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,846.12. The stock has a market cap of $165.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $20.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.89%.

Booking Company Profile

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.