EP Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 92.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 768 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after buying an additional 233,052 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the third quarter valued at about $5,322,600,000. Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the third quarter worth about $155,427,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 106.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $3,590.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,837.17.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $5,300.34 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,177.16 and a 1 year high of $5,337.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,705.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,143.70. The firm has a market cap of $175.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

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.