DA Davidson Increases Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $4,150.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective lifted by DA Davidson from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays cut their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an outperform rating and a $4,150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $3,823.00.

Booking Trading Up 3.0 %

BKNG traded up $104.47 on Friday, hitting $3,577.38. 534,715 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 200,734. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $3,524.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,399.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.70 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 433.49% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445 in the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its position in Booking by 0.6% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council increased its stake in shares of Booking by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.