Empirical Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 41,681 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 41,681 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $207,089,000. Booking accounts for approximately 6.0% of Empirical Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Booking at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in Booking by 55.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Booking by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd 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. Cumberland Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 500 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $981,929,000 after buying an additional 233,052 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,657.00 to $4,470.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $4,997.64.

Booking Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $61.80 on Friday, hitting $4,926.80. The stock had a trading volume of 260,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,786. 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 market cap of $163.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $5,052.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,370.55.

Booking Announces Dividend

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