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

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at BTIG Research in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $250.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 57.85% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BKNG. Melius Research set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Booking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.71.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $158.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $119.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.13. Booking has a 52 week low of $150.14 and a 52 week high of $220.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.43.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Booking will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.06, for a total transaction of $244,590.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 70,400 shares in the company, valued at $11,479,424. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Wittman sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total value of $79,125.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,404,063. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 84,550 shares of company stock valued at $17,426,865. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 2,674.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,026,348,000 after purchasing an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Booking by 1,497.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,691,186,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Booking in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,370,455,000. Hedge funds and other 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.