Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases New Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. $BKNG

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 27,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,961,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 3,475.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 3,550.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN raised its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus boosted their price objective on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $236.00 target price (up from $225.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $245.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.72.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,200,000. This represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares in the company, valued at $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 89,625 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,675 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Booking Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $204.76 on Tuesday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $184.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.85.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Booking Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.