Harbour Investments Inc. Buys 3 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after purchasing an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $155,427,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,617.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,789.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,694.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

About Booking

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.