Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 433 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,813 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $58,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark increased their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,278.66.

Booking Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,598.08 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,669.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,784.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

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 the consensus estimate 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%. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.