Hilltop Holdings Inc. Boosts Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 24.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 316 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Booking by 55.9% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth about $6,897,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking by 25.0% in the third quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 11.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,423,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,214.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $172.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,104.48 and a fifty-two week high of $5,258.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $4,642.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,114.85.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,800.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,820.50.

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.