Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-one analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5,370.43.

Several brokerages have commented on BKNG. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,470.00 to $5,248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Argus lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Booking from $5,400.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $5,033.83 on Friday. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,898.86 and its 200-day moving average is $4,591.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Booking by 621,874.8% during 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,352,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,322,600,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,283,000 after purchasing an additional 95,308 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.