Zacks Investment Management Buys 235 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Zacks Investment Management raised its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 412.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 292 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its position in Booking by 2.6% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 268.5% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,147,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 3,561.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,955,000 after buying an additional 2,992 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Booking by 27.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in Booking by 404.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BKNG. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities decreased their target price on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,278.66.

Booking Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4,689.13 and its 200-day moving average is $4,774.73.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.