Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given New $4,300.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective increased by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 0.30% from the company’s previous close.

BKNG has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,164.11.

Booking Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $4,313.01 on Tuesday. Booking has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,395.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4,029.83 and its 200-day moving average is $3,838.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $37.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 177.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was 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. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 12,456 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Booking by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,865,949,000 after acquiring an additional 21,969 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Booking by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Booking by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after acquiring an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Booking by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 159,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $584,492,000 after acquiring an additional 28,904 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.