Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $2.96 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 595 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $4,898.40 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,891.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,640.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective for the company. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.