Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 903 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Booking were worth $22,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth about $25,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 80.0% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 9 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 66.7% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 10 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,764.89 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,028.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,406.60.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 23.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,560.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,997.64.

Booking Company Profile

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.