Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price increased by research analysts at Citigroup from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.09% from the company’s previous close.

BKNG has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,750.00 price target (up from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,718.07.

Booking Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,504.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5,567.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,070.33. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $41.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,620,154,000 after buying an additional 30,054 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Booking by 0.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,706,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Booking by 6.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,365,170,000 after purchasing an additional 18,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.