5 Stocks to Buy According to GuardCap Asset Management

4. Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

GuardCap Asset Management’s Stake Value: $734,273,000
Percentage of GuardCap Asset Management’s 13F Portfolio: 9.61%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 99

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is an online travel and related services firm with six primary brands – Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Rentalcars.com, KAYAK, and OpenTable, which serve customers and local partners in over 220 countries and territories.

Thomas Champion of Piper Sandler boosted his price objective on Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) to $2,500 from $2,440 on May 5 and reiterated his Neutral rating on the stock. In a research note to investors, Champion stated that Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s first-quarter bookings beat Street forecasts. Management was optimistic about the company’s return to travel and its push into projects like Air and Connected Trip.

GuardCap Asset Management elevated its stake by 3% in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the first quarter of 2022. The hedge fund held 312,663 shares of the firm compared to 306,046 shares in the fourth quarter of 2021. At the end of Q1 2022, there were 99 optimistic hedge fund bets on Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) shares, up from 92 a quarter earlier.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments mentioned Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) and explained its insights for the company. Here is what the fund said:

“Other actions during the quarter included the sale of consumer name Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG). We sold Booking, the owner of online travel agencies Booking.com, Priceline and Kayak, due to its higher exposure to Europe where we believe a rebound in travel will be slowed by the spillover effects of the Ukraine invasion on consumer spending.”