Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Acquires 1,123 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 76.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the quarter. Booking comprises 1.7% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $12,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EWA LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.2% in the third quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 917 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,863,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $577,000. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 2,939 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,379,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,350,605,000 after buying an additional 11,211 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,351.41.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,244.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $139.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4,748.50 and a 200 day moving average of $4,761.84. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 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.