Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 9 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Up 0.8%

Booking stock opened at $5,614.61 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,639.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,990.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,933.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $20.39 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

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.