Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stake Boosted by Birinyi Associates Inc.

Birinyi Associates Inc. raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 3.2% of Birinyi Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 24.2% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Booking by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Booking by 254.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 39 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $510,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 36.5% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 277 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush boosted their price target 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,033.83 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4,898.86 and its 200 day moving average is $4,591.58. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 20.23%.

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.