Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $232.4459.

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKNG. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $309.84 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, February 19th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 60,876 shares of company stock valued at $10,559,629 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 28,353.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after acquiring an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Booking by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Booking Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Booking stock opened at $173.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.20. Booking has a 1-year low of $150.62 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.54.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $27.56 by ($26.42). The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.51 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 25.26%.

Key Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed revenue up ~16% year‑over‑year and operating metrics that beat or roughly met Street expectations — supporting the case that demand remains resilient. Booking’s Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Booking highlighted benefits from generative AI (cost reductions and booking lift) and Kayak launched an “Ask AI” conversational planner — both help revenue/margin outlook over time and support investor confidence in product-led growth. AI assistants slash costs KAYAK Ask AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Street reactions are mixed: some firms reiterated buys and nudged targets (UBS raised its target slightly), while others trimmed targets modestly — keeping consensus bullish but showing calibration. UBS sticks to buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst estimate movement is minor: Erste trimmed FY26 EPS to $10.65 from $10.70 — a small revision aligned with consensus, not a material reset. Erste estimate cut
• Negative Sentiment: Management cut its FY26 revenue-growth outlook (from low‑double digits to high‑single digits) and Q2 revenue guide (~$7.1–7.2B) came in below consensus — the guidance reset is the main driver of downside pressure. WSJ: Cuts full‑year outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical headwinds (Middle East conflict) are explicitly cited by management as curbing travel demand and prompting the outlook cut — an ongoing macro risk for near‑term revenue. Seeking Alpha: Outlook lowered
• Negative Sentiment: Market positioning signals: reports show notable insider sales and large institutional portfolio moves in Q1 — these flows can amplify price moves following the guidance miss. Quiver: insider & institutional activity

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.