FineMark National Bank & Trust Buys 6 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

FineMark National Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Booking by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 130 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 26.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 184 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Booking by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 175 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in Booking by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cfra upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,777.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $156.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4,788.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,721.16. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. 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.