FORA Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 3,087 Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,087 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $15,338,000. Booking comprises approximately 1.8% of FORA Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,423,000 after buying an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 88,754 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $440,967,000 after purchasing an additional 50,605 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock traded down $79.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5,086.10. The company had a trading volume of 228,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,269. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $4,672.55 and its 200-day moving average is $4,849.82.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $20.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.89%.

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.