Chase Investment Counsel Corp Has $6.13 Million Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp trimmed its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Booking comprises approximately 2.0% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Booking were worth $6,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,856,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $2,942,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Booking by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 5,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,920,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,016.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4,898.79 and a 200-day moving average of $4,607.88. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $164.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.19%.

Booking 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.