Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $250.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark cut their price objective on Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Argus upped their target price on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $167.38 on Friday. Booking has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $233.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 97,076 shares of company stock valued at $16,417,121 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 82 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

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.