Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stake Lowered by Soros Fund Management LLC

Soros Fund Management LLC decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 65.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,022 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $10,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Eleven 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,263.28.

Booking Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,889.95 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4,648.23 and its 200-day moving average is $4,804.01. The firm has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued 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. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Booking’s payout ratio is 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.