American Trust Invests $869,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

American Trust acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 175 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $869,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. B. Riley boosted their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $23.52 on Wednesday, hitting $5,475.26. The stock had a trading volume of 188,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,577. The company has a market capitalization of $178.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,505.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4,856.58 and a 200-day moving average of $4,903.73.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $20.39 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

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.