Booking’s (BKNG) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reissued their outperform rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $4,205.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $4,150.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a buy rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $3,823.00.

Booking Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $104.47 on Friday, reaching $3,577.38. The stock had a trading volume of 534,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,734. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3,524.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3,399.84. Booking has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 433.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $11.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 176.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at $114,826,417. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2,479.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after purchasing an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter worth $3,774,850,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $220,080,000. 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.