Brokerages Set Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Target Price at $5,845.61

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5,845.6061.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $4,495.00 price target (down from $5,830.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,954.00 to $5,456.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Booking from $6,500.00 to $5,935.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. 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 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,631,984.10. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,749 shares of company stock worth $12,571,467 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Booking during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,117.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $130.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4,438.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,943.78. Booking has a 52-week low of $3,765.45 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

Booking’s stock is scheduled to split on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $10.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $9.60. This represents a $42.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.28%.

About Booking

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.