Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $150.14 and last traded at $152.9460, with a volume of 724517 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $154.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Booking from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $260.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.14.

Booking Stock Up 1.7%

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.87. The firm has a market cap of $123.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.10.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.52 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 117.14% and a net margin of 22.23%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.11%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 34,576 shares of company stock worth $6,187,746 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

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.