Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stake Increased by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 822 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Katamaran Capital LLP acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $2,335,000. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 23,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,317,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 394 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,236,000. Finally, Prudential PLC lifted its stake in Booking by 86.1% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 1,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,052,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,284.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4,757.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,750.17. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for 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, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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 raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,374.90.

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.