Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

BKNG has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities decreased their target price on Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,278.66.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,573.31 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4,689.13 and a 200-day moving average of $4,779.24. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s payout ratio is currently 22.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,887,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Booking by 621,874.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,295,423,000 after purchasing an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Booking by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after buying an additional 95,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,499,000 after buying an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.