Climber Capital SA Purchases Shares of 76 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Climber Capital SA acquired a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 76 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Ten research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $4,689.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $153.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4,774.08 and a 200 day moving average of $4,750.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.