Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84, Zacks reports. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded up $123.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $4,263.85. The company had a trading volume of 527,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,895. Booking has a 1-year low of $4,020.54 and a 1-year high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $137.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5,077.65 and a 200-day moving average of $5,208.10.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,096 shares of company stock valued at $11,120,014. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $6,244,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,861,000. Varenne Capital Partners raised its stake in Booking by 99.0% during the fourth quarter. Varenne Capital Partners now owns 583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,124,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Booking by 150.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $147,095,000 after acquiring an additional 16,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stony Point Capital LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Stony Point Capital LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,884,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Mizuho upgraded Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Booking from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,523.00 to $5,954.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,171.56.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.