Townsend & Associates Inc Sells 50 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Townsend & Associates Inc lowered its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Booking accounts for about 1.9% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Booking were worth $18,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 342,723.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 3,940.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after acquiring an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the third quarter worth approximately $155,427,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Booking by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 51,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $253,762,000 after acquiring an additional 19,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Down 0.6 %

Booking stock opened at $4,989.22 on Friday. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,903.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,559.90. The stock has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised 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. Mizuho raised their target price on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.