Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Increased to Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on BKNG. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,750.00 target price (up previously from $5,077.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $5,457.86 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5,571.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,084.15. Booking has a 52 week low of $3,291.80 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $176.89 billion, a PE ratio of 37.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $41.90 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP lifted its stake in Booking by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 1.2% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $809,000 after acquiring an additional 2 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.