Verus Capital Partners LLC Acquires 10 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $164.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4,898.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,615.15.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKNG. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

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.