Merit Financial Group LLC Has $6.15 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 33.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,334 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $6,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $13.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $5,570.52. 185,629 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,428. The firm has a market cap of $181.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $4,952.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,925.27. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,637.02.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Booking's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $20.39 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

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.