Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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 report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,295.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,825.51 and its 200-day moving average is $4,666.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

About Booking

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.