Lbp Am Sa Increases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Lbp Am Sa raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 177.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,512 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Booking were worth $17,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after buying an additional 233,052 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after buying an additional 37,477 shares during the period. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $155,427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,295.40 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $140.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4,825.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,666.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

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.