Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by J.Safra Asset Management Corp

J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 258.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 61 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after purchasing an additional 37,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $4,898.40 on Wednesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4,891.96 and a 200-day moving average of $4,640.74. The company has a market capitalization of $160.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.