Clare Market Investments LLC Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 145 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $720,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 80.0% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,673.38 on Monday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,872.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,662.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. On average, analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine investment 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 MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

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.