Benchmark Cuts Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $5,600.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price target decreased by Benchmark from $6,400.00 to $5,600.00 in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $4,495.00 price target (down from $5,830.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $6,485.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,920.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7,746.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,971.64.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,076.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,007.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,181.61. Booking has a twelve month low of $3,871.01 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41.

Booking shares are set to split on the morning of Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $41.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total value of $77,867.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,566,320.05. This represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,149.75, for a total value of $1,875,687.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 18,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,948,814.25. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock worth $15,287,682. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $3,271,041,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 578,824.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after acquiring an additional 289,412 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 28,353.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the period. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat: BKNG reported Q4 revenue of $6.35B (+16% y/y) and EPS of $48.80, with room nights +9% and gross bookings +16% — strong operating metrics that underpin the stock’s upside. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: 25-for-1 stock split: management announced a 25-to-1 split effective early April, which increases retail accessibility/liquidity and often supports demand from individual investors. MarketBeat BKNG page (split)
• Positive Sentiment: AI as a productivity lever: management highlighted generative-AI initiatives to improve personalization and conversion, which could be a medium-term margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: company gave constructive revenue growth guidance for the quarter (revenue growth range above some Street estimates), though currency-adjusted growth and margin cadence bear watching. Guidance & metrics comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation released: earnings transcript, slide deck and call replay are available for investors who want to dig into unit economics and regional trends. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: multiple firms trimmed targets (examples include Susquehanna, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others), which pressured sentiment and contributed to recent near-term weakness. Benzinga: price-target cuts / 52-week low
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation fears & insider selling: investors remain concerned that big‑tech AI agents could bypass OTAs and that higher marketing spend may compress near-term margins; CEO share sales in February add a modest negative optics element. Deep dive on AI/marketing impact Read More.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.