Birinyi Associates Inc. Has $11.68 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Birinyi Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Booking makes up approximately 3.2% of Birinyi Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $11,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Seascape Capital Management grew its position in Booking by 0.3% during the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 1,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,242,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 3.2% during the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.3 %

BKNG opened at $5,033.83 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,898.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,591.58. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $165.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 20.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley increased their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.