Ascent Group LLC Buys 32 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 193 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Realta Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $520,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,332.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4,839.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,899.90. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,379.98. The firm has a market cap of $173.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $20.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

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.