Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5,867.0909.

A number of brokerages have commented on BKNG. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Booking from $6,600.00 to $6,000.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird set a $5,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $6,150.00 to $5,500.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd.

Booking Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,179.78 on Tuesday. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,765.45 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4,855.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $5,124.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.21.

Shares of Booking are 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $41.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $10.50 per share. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $9.60. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $42.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,191.15, for a total transaction of $77,867.25. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 687 shares in the company, valued at $3,566,320.05. This trade represents a 2.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 452 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,149.75, for a total transaction of $1,875,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 18,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,948,814.25. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,108 shares of company stock worth $15,287,682 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd bought a new stake in Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 13.3% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.