LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA Boosts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA’s holdings in Booking were worth $189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,400.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $144.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4,838.11 and a 200-day moving average of $4,669.48. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.19%.

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.