Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Soros Fund Management LLC

Soros Fund Management LLC cut its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 65.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,022 shares during the quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $10,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,263.28.

Booking Stock Up 1.1 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,889.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4,648.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,804.01. 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 results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. 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.