Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $152.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,779.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,740.07.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 22.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,986,244,000 after buying an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,073,508,000 after buying an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booking Company Profile

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.