Horizon Investment Services LLC Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Horizon Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for 1.3% of Horizon Investment Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,350,605,000 after acquiring an additional 11,211 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,073,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 214,185 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,064,161,000 after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4,779.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,727.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. 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 is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.