Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives $5,327.28 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $5,327.28.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BKNG shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Booking from $4,600.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,556.84 on Friday. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $149.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $4,712.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,771.67.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.18 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 521,609.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% in the fourth 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% in 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 buying an additional 58,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.