Summit Financial LLC Purchases 87 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 387 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 600.0% in 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 last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,685.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $4,772.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,750.56. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio 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.