Bank of America Trims Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Target Price to $3,750.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective trimmed by Bank of America from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Argus lifted their price objective on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $3,950.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $4,068.32.

Booking Trading Down 0.8 %

BKNG stock traded down $28.13 on Friday, hitting $3,300.00. The company had a trading volume of 278,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,060. The stock has a market cap of $111.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3,872.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,692.09. Booking has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 237.46% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Booking will post 178.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $1,742,160,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,774,850,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $220,080,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 4,565.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,143,000 after purchasing an additional 61,268 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.