J.Safra Asset Management Corp Grows Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 258.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management increased its stake in Booking by 0.3% in the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 1,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its position in Booking by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,898.40 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4,891.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,640.74. The stock has a market cap of $160.74 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.