StockNews.com Lowers Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BKNG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush upped their target price on Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,256.89.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,347.82 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $4,058.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,849.23. The company has a market capitalization of $145.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,395.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $37.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Booking will post 177.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aspiriant LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 1.7% in the first quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 24 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.