Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $4,400.00 to $4,900.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Booking traded as high as $4,045.04 and last traded at $4,044.31, with a volume of 95055 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3,936.41.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Argus upped their price target on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $4,205.00 target price (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,980.15.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total transaction of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $401,371,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $24,841,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in Booking by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,699,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in Booking by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $113,827,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 2.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $137.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3,840.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,652.78.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 26.25%.

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.