Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $6.36 EPS

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36, Briefing.com reports. Booking had a negative return on equity of 433.49% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG opened at $3,577.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3,523.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,395.60. The stock has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,823.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.