The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,205.00 to $5,155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,448.00 to $4,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,680.18.

Booking Trading Up 1.6 %

BKNG traded up $72.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4,749.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 519,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,428. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4,136.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,880.99. Booking has a 12 month low of $2,756.39 and a 12 month high of $4,856.60. The stock has a market cap of $159.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $77.94 by $5.95. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 165.63%. The company had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.63 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Booking will post 177.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ted Buchan & Co lifted its position in shares of Booking by 153.1% during the third quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 205 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Booking by 8.0% during the third quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,252,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 6.3% during the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,124,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.