Meridian Financial Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 67 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. UBS Group dropped their target price on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,614.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4,990.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,932.90. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,639.70.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.