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

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3,723.41.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $3,521.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3,547.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,383.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a negative return on equity of 751.49% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $24.74 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Booking will post 175.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock valued at $18,815,825. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 382.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Booking

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.