Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a $6,100.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $6,000.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $4,495.00 price target (down from $5,830.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark cut their price target on Booking from $6,400.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Argus boosted their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,976.79.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,007.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.16 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5,032.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,193.24. Booking has a 12-month low of $3,871.01 and a 12-month high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 127.57%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $41.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 840 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,502.40. The trade was a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total transaction of $77,867.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,566,320.05. The trade was a 2.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in shares of Booking by 4.5% during the second quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 46 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Haven Private LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3.0% in the second quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 68 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Summitry LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 81 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus on revenue and showed healthy travel demand (room nights +9%, gross bookings +16%), supporting longer‑term growth expectations. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management flagged generative AI projects aimed at personalization and conversion — a potential productivity/margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI article
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate action: company announced a 25‑for‑1 stock split (shares payable early April), which increases liquidity and retail accessibility — often supportive over time. MarketBeat: Split story
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: management gave constructive revenue guidance for Q1 (~$5.4B–$5.5B) but EPS guidance/detail was unclear in early commentary — revenue outlook helps, but lack of clear EPS guidance leaves some uncertainty. Zacks: guidance coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation posted (earnings transcript, slide deck) for investors who want to dig into regional/unit economics and AI roadmap. Earnings transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction: multiple firms trimmed price targets and some ratings were downgraded or moved to neutral — the re‑ratings (Citigroup, Wells Fargo, KeyBanc, JPMorgan, Benchmark, DA Davidson) amplified selling despite targets still implying upside. Representative coverage of a Citi cut is here. TickerReport: Citigroup PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation worries: investors fear Big Tech AI (e.g., Google’s travel/agentic features) could siphon bookings and increase marketing spend to retain visibility — a structural risk that prompted some to sell into the beat. MarketBeat: AI concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO filings show February share sales (disclosed Form 4s), which some investors view as a mild negative signal even though holdings remain large. SEC Form 4 (insider transaction)

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.