Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.60 EPS.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $104.47 on Friday, hitting $3,577.38. 534,621 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,375. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3,523.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,395.60. The firm has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445 in the last three months. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,823.00.

About Booking

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.