Corient Private Wealth LLC Has $158.25 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 198.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,195 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $158,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Booking by 90.3% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $370,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $994,000. Finally, Poinciana Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $324,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,465.48 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,816.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,677.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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%. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.