Soros Fund Management LLC Sells 4,022 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Soros Fund Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 65.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund 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 SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.4% during the 4th 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 Booking by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,495,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $101.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $5,202.80. 270,934 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 251,957. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4,652.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $4,818.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Booking's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $20.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. B. Riley increased their target price on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,262.41.

About Booking

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.