Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 80.0% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,451.03 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4,861.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,667.69. The company has a market cap of $146.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G 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.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The business 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus 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.