Zhang Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 17.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 459 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $2,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 51.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. B. Riley raised their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Cfra raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,388.37.

Booking Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $4.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5,461.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 193,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,873. The company has a market cap of $177.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,639.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,051.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,941.07.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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