UBS Group Cuts Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $5,557.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective lowered by UBS Group from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on BKNG. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,262.41.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $5,099.28 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4,648.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,806.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $20.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Booking by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Booking by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.