Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a $3,950.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a hold rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark restated a hold rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $3,876.96.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $3,780.03 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3,532.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,420.07. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking will post 176.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related 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 transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,651 shares of company stock worth $19,485,975. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Booking by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Booking by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $879,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.