Independent Advisor Alliance Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 920 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 14.4% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 80.0% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 327 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Services grew its stake in Booking by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 395 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,664,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,353.41 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,849.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,671.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $142.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective for the company. Nine research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.