Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Purchases 19 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 74 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Booking were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,262.41.

Booking Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,191.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,655.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,830.86.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend 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.