Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Cut to $219.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price target trimmed by Bank of America from $232.00 to $219.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $274.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $188.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Melius Research set a $225.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.35.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $170.97 on Wednesday. Booking has a one year low of $146.28 and a one year high of $220.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.13 and a 200-day moving average of $176.51. The company has a market capitalization of $128.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The business services provider reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $9.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.55 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 95.02% and a net margin of 25.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $99.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking will post 10.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 375 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $79,125.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,425 shares of company stock valued at $16,004,164. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Booking by 1,615.6% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 13,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 13,119 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 2,549.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 88,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,077,000 after buying an additional 85,592 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 61,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,068,000 after buying an additional 21,496 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.66 beat expectations. Room nights grew 7%, and gross bookings and adjusted revenue also increased, indicating underlying travel activity remained healthy. Booking Holdings Q3 Earnings Beat on Travel Growth, Revenues Miss
• Positive Sentiment: The stock’s recovery after an initial post-earnings decline indicates investors may have already priced in a weak report and are giving weight to the earnings beat and travel-volume growth. Booking Holdings earnings analysis: questions answered and next catalysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts lowered price targets after the results, but many maintained Buy, Outperform or Overweight ratings. This reflects reduced near-term expectations rather than a broad shift to bearish recommendations. These Analysts Slash Their Forecasts On Booking Holdings Following Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Reported revenue missed estimates and fell year over year, partly due to an approximately $900 million revenue impact tied to FTC action. The company also cautioned that travel-demand growth is likely to moderate in Q4, with international demand pressured by geopolitical turmoil and higher airfares. Booking Holdings takes $900 million hit to quarterly revenue linked to FTC action

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.