Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Holdings Boosted by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 10 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4,898.79 and its 200-day moving average is $4,615.15. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 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.