Benchmark Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price target cut by Benchmark from $6,400.00 to $5,600.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Benchmark’s target price suggests a potential upside of 37.36% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on BKNG. Barclays set a $5,500.00 price objective on Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,523.00 to $5,954.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,433.00 to $5,407.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7,746.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,971.64.

Booking Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,076.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5,007.56 and its 200-day moving average is $5,183.53. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,871.01 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The stock has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.21.

Booking shares are set to split before the market opens on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $41.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,764,124. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock worth $15,287,682. 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 the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after acquiring an additional 23,159 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Booking by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,936,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,333 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat: BKNG reported Q4 revenue of $6.35B (+16% y/y) and EPS of $48.80, with room nights +9% and gross bookings +16% — strong operating metrics that underpin the stock’s upside. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: 25-for-1 stock split: management announced a 25-to-1 split effective early April, which increases retail accessibility/liquidity and often supports demand from individual investors. MarketBeat BKNG page (split)
• Positive Sentiment: AI as a productivity lever: management highlighted generative-AI initiatives to improve personalization and conversion, which could be a medium-term margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: company gave constructive revenue growth guidance for the quarter (revenue growth range above some Street estimates), though currency-adjusted growth and margin cadence bear watching. Guidance & metrics comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation released: earnings transcript, slide deck and call replay are available for investors who want to dig into unit economics and regional trends. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: multiple firms trimmed targets (examples include Susquehanna, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others), which pressured sentiment and contributed to recent near-term weakness. Benzinga: price-target cuts / 52-week low
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation fears & insider selling: investors remain concerned that big‑tech AI agents could bypass OTAs and that higher marketing spend may compress near-term margins; CEO share sales in February add a modest negative optics element. Deep dive on AI/marketing impact Read More.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.