BMO Capital Markets Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

BMO Capital Markets reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $4,205.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $4,150.00.

BKNG has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $3,548.00 to $3,435.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $3,823.00.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $3,577.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3,524.43 and its 200-day moving average is $3,406.68. Booking has a 52 week low of $2,456.93 and a 52 week high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $11.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were 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 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,742,160,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,184,224,000 after purchasing an additional 5,040 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,362,000 after buying an additional 15,381 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $976,096,000 after buying an additional 9,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Booking by 22.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 159,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $584,492,000 after buying an additional 28,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.