X Square Capital LLC Acquires 3 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

X Square Capital LLC grew its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 386 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the quarter. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BKNG. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Booking by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 10.1% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 413 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in Booking in the third quarter worth $666,000. MayTech Global Investments LLC raised its position in Booking by 20.6% in the third quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 5,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,318,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in Booking by 16.6% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,244,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $4,752.80 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,784.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,721.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. 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

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.