Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Raised to Strong-Buy at Argus

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was upgraded by research analysts at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

BKNG has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Booking from $6,723.00 to $6,790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $6,150.00 target price on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,200.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $6,030.00 to $6,260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6,156.48.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,445.72 on Tuesday. Booking has a one year low of $4,096.23 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5,141.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5,372.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.23.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The business services provider reported $99.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $95.56 by $3.94. Booking had a net margin of 19.37% and a negative return on equity of 134.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $83.39 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,000.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,800,000. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,414.53, for a total value of $3,091,696.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 21,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,759,275.30. This trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $17,193,557 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.