BTIG Research Reaffirms Buy Rating for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at BTIG Research in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6,250.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 50.46% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson cut their price target on Booking from $6,600.00 to $6,000.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Susquehanna set a $6,500.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,400.00 to $4,700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group set a $6,485.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $4,500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,867.09.

Booking Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,153.87 on Tuesday. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,765.45 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $131.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,829.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,114.85.

Booking’s stock is set to split on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, April 2nd.

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total value of $77,867.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 687 shares in the company, valued at $3,566,320.05. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 7.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,132,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Booking by 59.6% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 339.0% during the 3rd quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 229.6% in the third quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.