Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 55 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,353.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4,849.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,671.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

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.