Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Raised to $6,500.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective hoisted by Susquehanna from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Benchmark increased their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 target price (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Down 2.1%

BKNG stock opened at $5,386.29 on Friday. Booking has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,568.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,077.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Booking by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.2% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.