Prospera Financial Services Inc Acquires 79 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 88.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 168 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after purchasing an additional 21,969 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.1% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after purchasing an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Booking during the third quarter valued at $5,322,600,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 15.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 106,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $420,865,000 after acquiring an additional 13,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in Booking by 0.8% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 105,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $416,659,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,177.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,482.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,041.24. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,079.50 and a fifty-two week high of $5,216.00.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,800.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Booking from $4,448.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,785.00.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.