South Dakota Investment Council Sells 125 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 236 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,173,000 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 lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $207,089,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 3,940.8% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,428 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,926,000 after purchasing an additional 37,477 shares in the last quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the third quarter valued at about $155,427,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 51,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $253,762,000 after purchasing an additional 19,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,989.22 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $165.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,903.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,568.73. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna raised their target price on Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

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.