Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a $6,250.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7,746.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $6,250.00 to $5,600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $5,500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Booking from $6,500.00 to $5,935.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,867.09.

Booking Stock Down 0.6%

Booking stock opened at $4,153.87 on Tuesday. Booking has a 52-week low of $3,765.45 and a 52-week high of $5,839.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4,829.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5,114.85.

Shares of Booking are set to split on the morning of Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $41.55 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $10.50 per share. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $9.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $42.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 23.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total transaction of $4,937,817.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at $101,631,984.10. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total transaction of $80,430.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,764,124. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Booking by 7.7% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,132,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after acquiring an additional 12,148 shares in the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 339.0% in the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 229.6% in the third quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6,250 price target for BKNG (roughly a ~50% upside from the referenced price), a high-profile bullish call that can drive buying interest and help lift the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — a recent roundup shows an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” supporting the view that sell-side sentiment is tilted positive around fundamentals and the upcoming share split. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking presented at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference; investor Q&A and management commentary from the transcript could influence near-term expectations for growth, margins and cadence of travel demand once digested. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Media pieces highlighting Booking as a stock-split candidate and arguing the shares trade below historical forward multiples feed retail and value-oriented interest ahead of the announced 25-for-1 split (April 6), which can boost demand. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical risk: coverage noting market jitters after recent U.S.-Israel actions and concerns about Iran shows travel-related stocks leading losses; such headlines can pressure BKNG along with the broader travel sector. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary questioning whether recent volatility leaves value on the table highlights short-term downside and a recent drawdown over the last 30 days — a reminder some investors are reassessing positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports in the feeds show anomalous zero/NaN figures and effectively no actionable signal; treat those entries as data noise until reliable filings confirm any real shorting activity. (Multiple short-interest posts in the feed.)

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.