Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $227.1388.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler set a $195.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Gordon Haskett lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. This trade represents a 12.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,351 shares of company stock valued at $13,545,706. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $174.64 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.99. The company has a market capitalization of $135.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.08. Booking has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

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.