Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BKNG. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Booking from $4,205.00 to $5,155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,820.50.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,201.98 on Wednesday. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,079.50 and a 1-year high of $5,237.00. The company has a market cap of $172.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4,599.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,089.44.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 797,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,350,605,000 after acquiring an additional 11,211 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Booking by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 3.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after purchasing an additional 13,429 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its stake in Booking by 3.1% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,421,069,000 after purchasing an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 296,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,249,311,000 after buying an additional 11,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.