Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BKNG. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price objective (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,034.55 on Monday. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $165.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4,900.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4,594.68.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Research analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Booking by 16.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Booking by 55.9% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Booking by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,455,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,160,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.