BTIG Research Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research‘s target price points to a potential upside of 60.43% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $215.00 target price on Booking and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Rosenblatt Securities assumed coverage on Booking in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial set a $216.00 price target on Booking and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.71.

Booking Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $5.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $155.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,931,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,136,679. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.30. Booking has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $220.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced 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 business had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $55.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,169,536. The trade was a 6.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total transaction of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 84,550 shares of company stock valued at $17,426,865. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Booking by 2,674.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,026,348,000 after acquiring an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth $1,370,455,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in Booking by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,489,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,057,274,000 after purchasing an additional 64,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant-reservation company that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.