EP Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3.7% during the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 84 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 3.2% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management raised its holdings in Booking by 1.6% in the second quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2.9% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities upped their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,837.17.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,300.34 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $3,177.16 and a one year high of $5,337.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4,705.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,143.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.75%.

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.