Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $227.1094.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus raised their target price on Booking from $188.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Booking by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Booking by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Booking by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $184.56 on Monday. Booking has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $233.58. The company has a market cap of $143.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.33.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 firm posted $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Booking’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

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.