Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $3,590.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 11.82% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BKNG. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,064.21.

Booking Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BKNG traded up $7.38 during trading on Monday, reaching $4,071.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,289. The company has a market cap of $138.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3,772.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,729.29. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $37.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 176.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Booking

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter worth about $32,000. 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.