Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6,250.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

BKNG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial set a $5,810.00 price target on Booking in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Booking from $5,800.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,976.79.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,007.45 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $5,032.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5,193.24. Booking has a 1 year low of $3,871.01 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Shares of Booking are scheduled to split before the market opens on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 127.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $41.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,362.00, for a total value of $80,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 702 shares in the company, valued at $3,764,124. This trade represents a 2.09% 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. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. This represents a 4.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Booking by 7.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,132,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in Booking by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 67.3% during the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $174,893,000 after purchasing an additional 12,148 shares during the period. Finally, GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC boosted its position in Booking by 339.0% during the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus on revenue and showed healthy travel demand (room nights +9%, gross bookings +16%), supporting longer‑term growth expectations. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management flagged generative AI projects aimed at personalization and conversion — a potential productivity/margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI article
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate action: company announced a 25‑for‑1 stock split (shares payable early April), which increases liquidity and retail accessibility — often supportive over time. MarketBeat: Split story
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: management gave constructive revenue guidance for Q1 (~$5.4B–$5.5B) but EPS guidance/detail was unclear in early commentary — revenue outlook helps, but lack of clear EPS guidance leaves some uncertainty. Zacks: guidance coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation posted (earnings transcript, slide deck) for investors who want to dig into regional/unit economics and AI roadmap. Earnings transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst reaction: multiple firms trimmed price targets and some ratings were downgraded or moved to neutral — the re‑ratings (Citigroup, Wells Fargo, KeyBanc, JPMorgan, Benchmark, DA Davidson) amplified selling despite targets still implying upside. Representative coverage of a Citi cut is here. TickerReport: Citigroup PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation worries: investors fear Big Tech AI (e.g., Google’s travel/agentic features) could siphon bookings and increase marketing spend to retain visibility — a structural risk that prompted some to sell into the beat. MarketBeat: AI concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO filings show February share sales (disclosed Form 4s), which some investors view as a mild negative signal even though holdings remain large. SEC Form 4 (insider transaction)

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.