MSH Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 109 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,540.84 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4,702.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,768.98.

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 firm 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%. Sell-side 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 declared 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. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark boosted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,285.55.

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.