Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $6,000.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

BKNG has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 target price on Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6,250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6,121.23.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,048.01 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5,261.72 and a 200-day moving average of $5,415.29. The company has a market cap of $162.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $83.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 24.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 131 shares in the company, valued at $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,570,000. This represents a 11.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 2,424 shares of company stock valued at $12,912,874 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Booking by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Booking by 18.6% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 75,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $437,284,000 after purchasing an additional 11,829 shares in the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.0% during the second quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 12.7% during the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,262,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,090,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

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.