Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,149.23.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,323.20 on Friday. Booking has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5,127.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $5,371.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $83.39 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This trade represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,141.53, for a total transaction of $3,213,456.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,162,642.46. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Booking by 15.6% in the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Booking by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $174,893,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 12.7% during the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.