Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $5,532.50 and last traded at $5,499.50, with a volume of 232656 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $5,502.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Booking from $5,540.00 to $4,330.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Cfra raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,299.29.

Booking Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $178.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4,904.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4,913.07.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 159.34% and a net margin of 24.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $20.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 23.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Booking by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth 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. Elequin Capital LP increased its holdings in Booking by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. 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.