Brokerages Set Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) PT at $4,130.18

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $4,164.11.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark dropped their target price on Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,313.01 on Friday. Booking has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,395.00. The stock has a market cap of $146.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4,029.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,838.71.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $37.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking will post 177.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,322,600,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the first quarter valued at $401,371,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Booking by 4,565.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 61,268 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Booking by 29.2% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after acquiring an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 106.0% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.