Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd Makes New $507,000 Investment in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 102 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Realta Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $520,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,000. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 123 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on BKNG. B. Riley lifted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,299.29.

Booking Trading Up 2.2%

Booking stock opened at $5,451.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,471.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4,856.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,903.73.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

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.