Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

BKNG has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday, February 21st. Ten 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,634.24 on Friday. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $152.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4,779.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4,727.45.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.19%.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Booking by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the third quarter worth about $666,000. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Booking by 16.6% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,244,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 83 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 75.9% during the 3rd quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,038,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is 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.