Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $227.2565.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $226.00 to $223.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total value of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Booking stock traded up $2.87 during trading on Monday, hitting $178.39. 3,974,630 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,066,356. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $168.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.07. Booking has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

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