Horizon Investments LLC Buys 7 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 564 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Booking by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,973,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,471.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4,803.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,691.22. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $146.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 note on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.