First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA bought a new position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 41 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $542,000. Zacks Investment Management increased its position in shares of Booking by 412.3% in the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,274,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonehaven Wealth & Tax Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Cfra raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,278.66.

Booking Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,695.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,771.47.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

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.