Simplicity Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 179 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its stake in Booking by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 3,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,392,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in Booking by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 5,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in Booking by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 31,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $169,598,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,673.38 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4,872.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,662.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.