Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given “Buy” Rating at BTIG Research

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at BTIG Research in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 58.72% from the company’s current price.

BKNG has been the subject of several other reports. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up from $240.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $242.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.98.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock opened at $157.51 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.07. Booking has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $55.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total value of $259,530.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 71,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,440,138. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,800,000. The trade was a 6.67% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,275. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,685,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $3,271,041,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.