44 Shares in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Purchased by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 44 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Booking by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the third quarter worth $666,000. MayTech Global Investments LLC increased its stake in Booking by 20.6% in the third quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 5,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,318,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its position in Booking by 16.6% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,244,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,752.80 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $155.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4,784.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,721.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

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.