Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Raised to $190.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price target increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

BKNG has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Booking from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, May 29th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.29.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $184.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.48. Booking has a 1-year low of $150.14 and a 1-year high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total value of $10,229,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,572,025.25. This represents a 12.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during 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 during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.