PDS Planning Inc Acquires 8 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Adero Partners LLC bought a new position in Booking during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 81.1% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 163 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the third quarter worth about $206,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Booking by 15.4% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 12,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $54,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 232.5% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 256 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,563.39 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4,809.82 and its 200-day moving average is $4,687.26. The stock has a market cap of $149.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

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.