Xponance Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Xponance Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Booking were worth $28,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,068,137,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Booking by 3,557.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 142,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,870,000 after buying an additional 138,279 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Booking by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 295,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $596,303,000 after buying an additional 112,831 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 2,479.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,919,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $13.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $3,430.14. 156,333 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,564. The stock has a market cap of $117.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3,586.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,364.25. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $24.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 175.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley initiated coverage on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price objective on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

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.