Booking’s (BKNG) Buy Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $250.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial set a $216.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $220.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.71.

Booking Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $155.83 on Thursday. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $220.81. The stock has a market cap of $117.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.36.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $55.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 84,550 shares of company stock worth $17,426,864 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter worth about $295,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $345,000. Alesco Advisors LLC An ESL Co purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $400,000. Brian Low Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $442,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 163.6% during the 1st quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 72 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 and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.