Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 222 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $22,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 80.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 66.7% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 10 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a PEG 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $4,898.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,615.15.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s 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.