First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $8.67 Million Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 2,935.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Booking were worth $8,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in Booking by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 218 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Benchmark raised their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,377.33.

Booking Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,614.61 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $182.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,639.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4,990.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,931.04.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

About Booking

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.