Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $150.14 and last traded at $152.9460, with a volume of 724517 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $154.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.14.

Booking Stock Up 1.8%

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.55. The company has a market cap of $121.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,576 shares of company stock worth $6,187,746. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Values Added Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 44 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 82 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 6 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.