Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on BKNG. Baird R W upgraded Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 0.1 %

BKNG stock traded down $2.86 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $4,589.03. The stock had a trading volume of 239,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 231,724. The firm has a market cap of $150.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4,792.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,689.82. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its position in Booking by 0.8% in the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Booking by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

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.