Meridian Wealth Management LLC Buys 21 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $2,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares during the period. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $155,427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,946.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $162.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,896.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,631.73. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Benchmark increased their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.