Bank of America Lowers Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $3,750.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective reduced by Bank of America from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and set a $3,950.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $4,068.32.

Booking Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $28.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3,300.00. The stock had a trading volume of 278,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,060. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The company has a market capitalization of $111.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,872.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3,692.09.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 237.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking will post 178.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,718,390,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Booking by 4.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,865,949,000 after buying an additional 21,969 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,362,000 after acquiring an additional 15,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.1% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.