Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 47 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,350,605,000 after purchasing an additional 11,211 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,429 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,311,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 2.0 %

BKNG opened at $4,471.51 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4,803.32 and a 200-day moving average of $4,691.22. The stock has a market cap of $146.73 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio 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.