Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective increased by Robert W. Baird from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.73% from the company’s current price.

BKNG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Cfra upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,262.41.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $5,101.43 on Wednesday. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,649.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,812.32. The company has a market cap of $166.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $20.39 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its position in Booking by 2.6% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,944,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 268.5% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 3,561.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Booking by 27.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 404.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in 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.