Morgan Stanley Increases Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $4,600.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $4,200.00 to $4,600.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,680.18.

Booking Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Booking stock traded up $72.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4,749.11. 519,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,428. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,136.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,880.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,756.39 and a twelve month high of $4,856.60.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $77.94 by $5.95. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 165.63%. The firm had revenue of $7.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.63 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 177.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.75%.

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 transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Ted Buchan & Co lifted its position in shares of Booking by 153.1% during the third quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 205 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Booking by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 8,844 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,252,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 979 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,124,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.