United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $22.64 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,556 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $22,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,327.28.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,556.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,712.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,771.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. 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.