Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Has $6.86 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities cut their target price on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,586.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,715.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,766.03.

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 company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Booking 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.