Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Has $2.29 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 461 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $184,234,000 after buying an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Rovida Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,456,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 47,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $238,464,000 after buying an additional 27,993 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Booking by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Up 2.0 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,709.72 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,788.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,713.79. The company has a market capitalization of $154.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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 the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.