Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Now Covered by Wedbush

Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $211.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

BKNG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Gordon Haskett boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $217.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $248.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. B. Riley Financial cut their target price on shares of Booking from $272.00 to $264.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.29.

Booking Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $184.61 on Thursday. Booking has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $231.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.48. The firm has a market cap 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.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Booking will post 10.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised 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 buying an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Booking by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after acquiring an additional 816,022 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Booking by 66,209.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 659,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $117,600,000 after acquiring an additional 658,788 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Booking by 2,548.6% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 649,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,785,000 after acquiring an additional 625,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,271,041,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.