United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

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

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark increased their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,556.84 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,712.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,771.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. 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 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.