Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $34.46 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 408.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,572 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $34,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 80.0% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,353.41 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $142.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,849.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,671.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.