Avanza Fonder AB Purchases New Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,402 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,934,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its stake 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. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Booking by 2.7% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 16 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 292 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,005.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4,997.64.

Booking Trading Up 1.3 %

BKNG stock traded up $61.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4,926.80. The stock had a trading volume of 260,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,969. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,052.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,377.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Booking's payout ratio is 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.