Blueprint Investment Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Blueprint Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 93 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its position in Booking by 88.8% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 168 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1,023.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,617.26 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4,789.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,707.25. The company has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost 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 22.19%.

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.