Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives $4,064.21 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $4,064.21.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Booking Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,212.12 on Tuesday. Booking has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,272.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3,795.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,758.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $37.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 176.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Booking by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Booking by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in Booking by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 158 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Booking by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $113,827,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. 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.