Voleon Capital Management LP Takes Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 338 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,679,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,262.41.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $11.68 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $5,191.12. 190,227 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 250,580. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $4,652.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,824.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $20.39 EPS. Analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share 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 $9.60 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking's payout ratio is 23.89%.

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.