Townsend & Associates Inc Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Townsend & Associates Inc reduced its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Booking accounts for about 1.9% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $18,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in Booking by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Down 0.6 %

BKNG stock opened at $4,989.22 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4,903.34 and a 200 day moving average of $4,559.90.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.60% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 207.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.