IFP Advisors Inc Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased 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 fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 600.0% during 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 last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,898.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,615.15.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. 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. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.