Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Now Covered by BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $6,100.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BKNG. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $5,433.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $6,000.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6,141.52.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,875.37 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5,169.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,399.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34. Booking has a 1-year low of $4,096.23 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41.

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

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors 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 yield of 0.8%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.96%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,030.00, for a total transaction of $75,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,510. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,007.69, for a total value of $2,003,076.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,922,265.19. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,452 shares of company stock valued at $17,987,397. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Booking by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 11,829 shares during the last quarter. Covey Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Booking by 12.7% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,262,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Booking by 0.7% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 9,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,624,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.