Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Increased to Buy at BTIG Research

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was upgraded by stock analysts at BTIG Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $5,500.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 28.38% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup increased their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,374.90.

Booking Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $4,284.02 on Friday. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,757.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,755.12. The company has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,986,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,958,352,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Booking by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,416,318,000 after buying an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.