Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after buying an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth about $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price for the company. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,295.40 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,825.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,666.88.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.