Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 173.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 219 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Booking were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the third quarter worth about $204,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 31.5% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in Booking by 15.9% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in Booking by 150.9% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,774,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 1,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $3,521.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,547.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,385.88. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $24.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.