Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,455,000 after buying an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus lowered shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,049.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4,901.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,580.38. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.