Sandy Spring Bank Has $3.96 Million Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 797 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Booking by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Booking by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKNG. StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,589.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,792.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,689.82.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.