Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Lowered to Hold at Erste Group Bank

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by Erste Group Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho raised their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,471.51 on Monday. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The company has a market cap of $146.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,803.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4,691.22.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,006,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,735,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,607,000. Finally, BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter worth approximately $635,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.