BankPlus Trust Department Acquires New Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Booking by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 254.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 39 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth about $510,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.3 %

BKNG stock opened at $5,033.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,898.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,591.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 20.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKNG. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.