Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Increased to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $6,000.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BKNG. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $5,433.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Gordon Haskett dropped their price target on Booking from $5,680.00 to $5,620.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group set a $6,806.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 target price on Booking in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,141.52.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,875.37 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $5,169.16 and its 200-day moving average is $5,399.76. Booking has a 52 week low of $4,096.23 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $157.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.34.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its 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. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The business had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $83.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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, analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 24.96%.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,800,000. This trade represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total transaction of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. This trade represents a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,452 shares of company stock worth $17,987,397 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $2,210,917,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 578,824.0% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,675,765,000 after buying an additional 289,412 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 658,925.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 105,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,441,000 after acquiring an additional 105,428 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $536,675,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $468,252,000. Institutional investors 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.