BTIG Research Reiterates Buy Rating for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at BTIG Research in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $6,250.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 46.94% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BKNG. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Booking from $5,433.00 to $5,407.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $4,500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,867.09.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,253.58 on Tuesday. Booking has a 52 week low of $3,765.45 and a 52 week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $134.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,806.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,108.83.

Shares of Booking 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 closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $41.55 EPS. The business’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.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value 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. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director owned 840 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 183 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,284,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. Tulsa Wealth Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $305,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $123,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a hefty $6,250 price target (about a 47% upside vs. the current share level), giving investors a bullish earnings/valuation signal. BTIG Reaffirms Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage in The Motley Fool highlights Booking as an attractive “stock-split” candidate, arguing the company’s long-term growth and valuation gap could draw retail buying into the split story. Fool Stock-Split Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — a recent roundup shows an average recommendation around “Moderate Buy,” supporting continued dealer/analyst optimism. Analyst Consensus
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference; the transcript is available for investors to mine for commentary on demand trends, margins and product initiatives that could affect forward guidance. Investors may parse the talk for fresh clues, but no headline surprises have been flagged yet. MS TMT Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports in early March show anomalous/zero values and “NaN” increases — this looks like a data error rather than a real surge in shorting, so it’s unlikely to be a meaningful driver of today’s move. (No reliable link available for the raw short-interest feed.)
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, coverage flagging recent price volatility and recent multi-week weakness (e.g., ~16% 30‑day decline and ~21% YTD fall cited in one piece) can keep some investors cautious and may limit upside absent clearer fundamental beats. Yahoo Reassess Article

Booking Company Profile

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.