Susquehanna Cuts Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $5,000.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $6,500.00 to $5,000.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “positive” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective points to a potential upside of 24.77% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BKNG. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7,746.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer set a $6,000.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays set a $5,500.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,931.33.

Booking Trading Down 6.1%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,007.45 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5,032.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,193.24. Booking has a 1 year low of $3,871.01 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

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

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 452 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,149.75, for a total value of $1,875,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 18,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,948,814.25. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

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

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates: revenue $6.35B (+16% y/y) and EPS topped consensus, showing healthy demand and margin expansion. BKNG Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Travel recovery metrics look solid — room nights +9% and gross bookings +16% — supporting continued revenue growth. WSJ: Booking sales & profit rise
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate action: Booking announced a 25-for-1 stock split (effective early April), which should improve retail accessibility/liquidity and can support demand over time. MarketBeat: Booking split
• Positive Sentiment: Management is deploying generative AI to improve personalization and conversion — a potential medium-term productivity/margin tailwind if execution scales. Seeking Alpha: Booking uses generative AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance and materials: Q1 revenue guide was constructive (~$5.4B–$5.5B) but EPS guidance was unclear in early commentary; transcript and slide deck were posted for further detail. Zacks: Q4 metrics vs. estimates Earnings transcript
• Negative Sentiment: AI disruption fears: investors worry big?tech agentic AI (e.g., Google) and hotel chains making direct AI deals could disintermediate Booking’s distribution/margin model — a major source of selling pressure. Globe and Mail deep dive on AI concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimming targets: multiple firms lowered price targets or flagged AI/marketing risks (Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, KeyCorp, Benchmark, DA Davidson, etc.), amplifying downside pressure despite buy/overweight ratings from others. Benzinga: Why BKNG hit 52-week low
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Glenn Fogel disclosed share sales in February; while not unusual for executives, it’s being watched by some investors as a negative signal. SEC Form 4 (insider sale)

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.