Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Raised to $5,550.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BKNG. Wedbush upped their price target on Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,680.18.

Booking Trading Up 1.6 %

Booking stock opened at $4,749.11 on Thursday. Booking has a 12-month low of $2,756.39 and a 12-month high of $4,856.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4,136.96 and a 200 day moving average of $3,886.98.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 166.06%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $37.62 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Booking will post 177.79 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,322,600,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 4,565.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Booking by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,743 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 106.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after buying an additional 36,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,755,000 after buying an additional 35,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.