Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Booking traded as high as $4,395.00 and last traded at $4,381.67, with a volume of 82232 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4,363.72.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,133.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at about $5,322,600,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 61,268 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 29.2% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $702,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 106.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,270 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4,015.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,835.37. The company has a market cap of $146.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.50%.

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.