Empirical Asset Management LLC Takes $207.09 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 41,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,089,000. Booking comprises approximately 6.0% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC owned 0.13% of Booking as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 80.0% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 10 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $4,600.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,997.64.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,865.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5,053.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,367.09. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.75%.

Booking Company 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.