Holderness Investments Co. Has $1.70 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Holderness Investments Co. reduced its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 343 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Booking by 232.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in Booking by 88.8% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Booking by 18.1% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 816 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,436,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 68.8% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,373,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKNG. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price objective (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,589.03 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $150.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,792.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,689.82.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 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.