Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BTIG Research raised Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $5,500.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,327.28.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,586.53 on Thursday. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $4,715.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,766.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP raised its position in Booking by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.