Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

BKNG has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Baird R W raised shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,617.26 on Thursday. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,789.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4,694.74.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.