Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target Raised to $3,494.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on BKNG. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a buy rating and a $4,400.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Booking from $3,450.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and set a $3,850.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $3,823.00.

Booking Trading Up 3.0 %

Booking stock traded up $104.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3,577.38. The stock had a trading volume of 534,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,734. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3,524.43 and its 200 day moving average is $3,399.84. The firm has a market capitalization 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 one year low of $2,456.93 and a one year high of $3,918.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 433.49% and a net margin of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $649,640.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 8.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 4,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,635,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $24,841,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council grew its stake in Booking by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Resource Council now owns 357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently 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.