Wealthspire Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 166 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Booking by 3,940.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after buying an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the third quarter worth $155,427,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Booking by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 51,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $253,762,000 after acquiring an additional 19,391 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,033.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,898.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,591.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.23%.

About Booking

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.