Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Raised to $266.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $249.00 to $266.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 38.08% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $214.00 price target on Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $244.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.23.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock traded down $8.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $192.65. The company had a trading volume of 4,535,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,609,230. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.40 and its 200-day moving average is $177.49. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% 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. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $179,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.