Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 48 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,377.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $146.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $2,733.04 and a one year high of $4,395.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,015.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,835.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Booking from $3,950.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,133.75.

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.