Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $3.98 Million Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI has increased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. by 5.9% during the first quarter, now owning 863 shares valued at approximately $3.98 million.
• Booking Holdings reported $55.40 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates by $5.08, along with a revenue of $6.80 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for September 5th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.7%.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 863 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Booking were worth $3,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 27.3% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,054,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 9.4% in the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 13.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,363,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BKNG traded down $26.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5,405.91. 186,426 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 199,192. The firm has a market cap of $175.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,569.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,095.71. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,394.85 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $41.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio is 26.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $5,750.00 price objective (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

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.