Booking’s (BKNG) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 28.69% from the stock’s previous close.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays set a $210.00 target price on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Booking from $224.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $214.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, HSBC cut their price target on shares of Booking from $309.84 to $298.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.34.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG opened at $194.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $176.96 and its 200-day moving average is $176.82. The company has a market capitalization of $150.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.07. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $231.80.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 117.14%. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $55.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Booking will post 10.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Peter J. Millones sold 62,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $10,229,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 425,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,572,025.25. The trade was a 12.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 68,625 shares of company stock valued at $11,445,375 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,997,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,055,006,000 after buying an additional 23,159 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Booking by 191,965.8% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,435,116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,685,520,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Booking by 1,497.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 870,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,665,168,000 after purchasing an additional 816,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations: Revenue increased 8.1% year over year to $7.35 billion, topping the $7.19 billion consensus estimate, while non-GAAP earnings of $2.54 per share beat estimates by roughly 4%. The company also surpassed the high end of its guidance across key operating metrics. Booking Beats Q2 Sales Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Travel demand remained healthy: Strong domestic and regional travel helped offset continued weakness in long-haul international travel and earlier concerns about Middle East-related demand. The performance suggests Booking continues to benefit from solid consumer demand for travel. Booking Reports Higher Revenue on Strong Travel Demand
• Positive Sentiment: AI strategy could reinforce Booking’s competitive position: Management’s focus is on owning the transaction—including inventory, pricing, cancellations, customer authentication, payments and supplier settlement—rather than merely allowing generative AI tools to recommend trips. That approach could help preserve Booking’s role and monetization opportunities as AI changes travel search. AI Can Plan the Trip but Booking Wants the Transaction
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street’s average recommendation remains equivalent to Buy, but the usefulness of highly optimistic analyst ratings is being questioned because such ratings may already reflect much of the favorable outlook. Wall Street Views on Booking
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance fell short of expectations: Booking projected revenue of approximately $9.4 billion to $9.5 billion, below the $9.7 billion analyst consensus. Continued pressure on long-haul international travel and geopolitical uncertainty remain risks to future growth.

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.