Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-six have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $233.95.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 price target (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,800,000. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.06, for a total transaction of $244,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 70,400 shares in the company, valued at $11,479,424. The trade was a 2.09% 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 84,550 shares of company stock worth $17,426,864 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Booking by 3,475.0% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 143 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 3,550.0% during the second quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its holdings in Booking by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $163.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $122.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. Booking has a 52-week low of $150.14 and a 52-week high of $220.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.