Wexford Capital LP Sells 15 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Wexford Capital LP lessened its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP’s holdings in Booking were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $68,718,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 162.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 12,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $62,602,000 after acquiring an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 136.0% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,242 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares in the last quarter. Triavera Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,757,000. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 61 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BKNG. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,378.00 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4,754.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,885.53. The stock has a market cap of $175.00 billion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,392.21.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

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.