Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Cut to $170.00 by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price lowered by Cantor Fitzgerald from $220.00 to $170.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen raised Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.95.

Booking Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of BKNG opened at $158.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $119.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $185.59 and a 200 day moving average of $177.83. Booking has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $220.81.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Booking by 2,674.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,026,348,000 after acquiring an additional 37,999,915 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2,525.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,597,000 after purchasing an additional 5,869,459 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.