Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Mizuho upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus reduced their price objective on Booking from $6,400.00 to $4,700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Booking from $6,500.00 to $5,935.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $4,495.00 target price (down from $5,830.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,867.09.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,440.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4,752.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $5,082.39. Booking has a one year low of $3,765.45 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.21.

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

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $10.50 per share. This represents a $42.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $9.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 25.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,149.75, for a total transaction of $1,875,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 18,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,948,814.25. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock worth $15,287,682 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 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.