Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,205.00 to $5,155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $4,100.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,680.18.

Booking Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $72.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4,749.11. 519,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,428. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,136.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,880.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a one year low of $2,756.39 and a one year high of $4,856.60.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $77.94 by $5.95. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 165.63%. The company had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.63 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 177.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 23.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.9% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Team Hewins LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.7% during the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.7% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 869 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.