Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is Wedgewood Partners Inc.'s 7th Largest Position

Wedgewood Partners Inc. decreased its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,816 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 5.7% of Wedgewood Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Wedgewood Partners Inc.'s holdings in Booking were worth $28,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. LexAurum Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 53 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 687 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,413,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $48.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $5,341.91. 135,986 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 247,346. The stock has a market cap of $173.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,379.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4,791.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,891.27.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $20.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Booking's payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Booking from $4,567.00 to $4,692.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price 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, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,299.29.

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.