Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Purchases New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 329 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,635,000. Booking makes up 1.2% of Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 0.5 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,673.38 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4,872.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,662.88.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.