Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,033.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4,898.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,591.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Equities research analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 621,874.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 342,723.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Booking by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,394,283,000 after acquiring an additional 95,308 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after acquiring an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently 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.