Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 1,002 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,379 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,002 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $21,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,465.48 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $4,816.74 and its 200 day moving average is $4,682.53. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Booking Company 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.