United Community Bank Decreases Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

United Community Bank lessened its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 3,098 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,392,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in Booking by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 5,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,145,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Booking by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 31,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $169,598,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 0.5 %

BKNG opened at $4,673.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4,872.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,656.42. The company has a market cap of $153.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

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.