LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA Buys 6 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA’s holdings in Booking were worth $189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,408,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth about $250,000. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. acquired a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark boosted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Nine investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,400.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4,838.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,669.48.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

About Booking

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.