Booking’s (BKNG) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a $250.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BKNG. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $242.00 price target on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.45.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $205.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.07. Booking has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $226.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $192.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.64.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Booking will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 375 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,404,063. This trade represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 77,550 shares of company stock worth $16,112,304 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Booking by 419,256.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 214,651,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,259,498,000 after acquiring an additional 214,600,394 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Booking by 2,525.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,087,597,000 after purchasing an additional 5,869,459 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.