B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 86 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $15,054,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in Booking by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,459,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,624,000. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Booking by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 11,221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,751,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,475.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,873.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,907.67. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,558.28. The company has a market cap of $178.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a PEG 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $20.39 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,299.29.

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.