Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Purchased by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 4.0 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,465.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,816.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,671.52. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. On average, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKNG. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.