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

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $6,500.00 to $6,250.00 in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 53.31% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BKNG. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,920.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $5,500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $5,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $6,250.00 to $5,600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,800.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,971.64.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,076.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5,007.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5,183.53. Booking has a one year low of $3,871.01 and a one year high of $5,839.41.

Booking’s stock is going to split on the morning of Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $41.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director owned 840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,124. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth $3,271,041,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 289,412 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Booking by 28,353.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after acquiring an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Booking

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.

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.