Assetmark Inc. Boosts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 380.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,980 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $24,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,350,605,000 after buying an additional 11,211 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,073,508,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,763,797,000 after buying an additional 13,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Booking by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,311,000 after buying an additional 11,649 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,917.46 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $161.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,887.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,642.68.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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 research report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.