Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 897 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in Booking by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 197 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Baird R W raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,465.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4,816.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,671.52. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. 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.