Inceptionr LLC Acquires New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 352 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,749,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,917.46 on Thursday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,887.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,642.68. The company has a market capitalization of $161.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

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.