Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Acquired by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 2,292.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 311 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $1,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP boosted its position in Booking by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 126 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG traded up $13.52 on Thursday, hitting $5,570.52. 185,297 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,427. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,952.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,925.27. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,637.02. The company has a market capitalization of $181.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.