Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on BKNG. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark increased their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,752.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4,784.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,721.67.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its holdings in Booking by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.