Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $5,355.00 and last traded at $5,333.14, with a volume of 53960 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $5,317.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Booking from $5,960.00 to $5,557.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Stock Up 1.1%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4,735.30 and a 200-day moving average of $4,881.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42.

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 the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Booking’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $20.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $15,054,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 20.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of Booking by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,459,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

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.