Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $3,850.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Wedbush’s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BKNG. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,723.41.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $32.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3,482.75. The stock had a trading volume of 91,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,699. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3,543.07 and its 200-day moving average is $3,391.38. The company has a market cap of $118.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $24.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,574 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,106,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 5.9% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,973,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 3,500.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 72 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 11,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,577,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 6.3% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.