Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Invests $248,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 50 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Booking by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 241 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in Booking by 1.9% in the third quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Booking by 0.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,465.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,816.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,677.04. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Booking Company 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.