Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

Booking Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,586.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $122.54 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3,596.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,349.31. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $24.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Booking will post 175.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total value of $97,952.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $815,101.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 28 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,498.29, for a total transaction of $97,952.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,101.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,467 shares of company stock worth $22,299,114 in the last quarter. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 37.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 64,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $151,044,000 after purchasing an additional 17,432 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Booking by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 613 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth approximately $387,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,767,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Booking

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.