Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $4,068.32.

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,497.00 to $3,976.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $3,890.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,795.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,695.08. Booking has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32. The firm has a market cap of $132.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

About Booking

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.