KCM Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 25 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 394 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wedbush increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,374.90.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,284.02 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $140.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4,757.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,755.12.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.