Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Moran Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,553 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $7,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 342,723.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after buying an additional 233,052 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $190,926,000 after buying an additional 37,477 shares during the period. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at about $155,427,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,451.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,861.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $4,667.69. The company has a market capitalization of $146.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 0.86%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark lifted their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.