First County Bank CT Invests $590,000 in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First County Bank CT bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 600.0% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,502.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $4,889.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,910.68. The company has a market capitalization of $179.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,509.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $20.39 EPS. Analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BKNG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty 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 $5,299.29.

Booking Company 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.