Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,262 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 1.7% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $38,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 55.9% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,921,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its position in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKNG. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Booking from $4,657.00 to $4,470.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,997.64.

Booking Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,619.21 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $152.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5,035.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,398.27.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

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.