Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives “Buy” Rating from DA Davidson

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at DA Davidson in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $240.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target indicates a potential upside of 38.40% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Gordon Haskett decreased their price objective on Booking from $217.60 to $214.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Argus decreased their price target on Booking from $256.00 to $188.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on Booking from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Twenty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.73.

Booking Stock Down 1.6%

BKNG opened at $173.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.04, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.20. Booking has a 52 week low of $150.62 and a 52 week high of $233.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.35.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $46.88. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.21, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,502.40. The trade was a 4.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 23,825 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.25, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 490,375 shares in the company, valued at $101,631,984.10. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,725 shares of company stock valued at $12,571,467 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 87 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,220,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.