South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stock Position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 236 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Booking were worth $1,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.8% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 835 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 290 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Booking from $5,575.00 to $5,750.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,989.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG 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 $4,568.73. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.60%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 207.62 EPS for the current year.

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.