Barclays Raises Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $4,500.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $3,900.00 to $4,500.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Booking from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $4,092.68.

Booking Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,288.22 on Tuesday. Booking has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,308.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3,854.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,788.48. The company has a market cap of $145.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $37.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 176.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Booking by 60.4% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 85 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH purchased a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,104,000. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,049,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Booking by 8.9% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,015,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.4% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,625,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.