Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 816 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Booking were worth $3,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 1,322 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,569,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd increased its stake in Booking by 1.8% in the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 5,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,045,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Booking by 2.0% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 13,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,083,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its position in Booking by 55.0% during the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,199.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4,457.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,027.25. The firm has a market cap of $172.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.38. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,079.50 and a fifty-two week high of $5,211.66.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BKNG. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4,600.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,785.00.

Booking 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.