Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $224,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 45 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKNG. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 53 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,413,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,317.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,735.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,881.13. The stock has a market cap of $173.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $20.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,299.29.

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.