Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Sunday.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas set a $6,100.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, November 24th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,450.00 to $6,630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $5,433.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6,156.48.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,348.39 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5,134.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5,372.39. Booking has a 52-week low of $4,096.23 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $172.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.86% and a net margin of 19.37%.The company had revenue of $9.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $83.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.96%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total value of $3,091,696.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,759,275.30. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Booking stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 960 shares in the company, valued at $4,800,000. This represents a 4.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 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.