Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Acquires 71 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 974 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $4,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Booking by 4.0% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 499 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking during the first quarter worth about $318,000. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 5.6% during the first quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 57 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 22.2% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 36.1% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 132 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,377.33.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,614.61 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4,990.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,932.90. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,639.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $20.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.89%.

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.