Townsend & Associates Inc Has $14.33 Million Stock Holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Townsend & Associates Inc trimmed its position in shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 16.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,229 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 624 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc's holdings in Booking were worth $14,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Booking in the first quarter worth $41,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,356.07, for a total value of $5,425,698.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 27,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,073,911.22. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,693.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $185.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.41. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,899.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5,274.77 and a 200-day moving average of $4,952.54.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 143.67% and a net margin of 22.58%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $20.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking's payout ratio is 23.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,388.37.

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.

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