Helium Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 73 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Helium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 73 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,986,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark upped their target price 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,299.29.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $5,341.91 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,379.98. The firm has a market cap of $173.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4,807.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,895.17.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.89%.

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.