OneAscent Financial Services LLC Increases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 0.1 %

Booking stock opened at $4,689.30 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,774.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,750.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company 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, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKNG. Barclays upped their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Company 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.