Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $4,800.00 to $5,400.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Booking traded as high as $4,862.86 and last traded at $4,861.55, with a volume of 123477 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $4,776.46.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BKNG. Argus downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $5,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Booking from $4,500.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,729.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents 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 available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Booking during the 1st quarter worth $713,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 23.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in Booking by 4.7% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,985,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Trading Up 1.8 %

The company has a market cap of $165.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4,199.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,914.68.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.75%.

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.