Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BKNG. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $4,500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Booking from $6,600.00 to $6,000.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $6,100.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Twenty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,845.61.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,117.51 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4,438.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,943.78. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,765.45 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $41.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 669 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,292.10, for a total value of $2,871,414.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,063,291.60. This represents a 5.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,749 shares of company stock worth $12,571,467 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,094,083,000 after purchasing an additional 203,580 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 862.0% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Booking by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.