Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Earns “Market Outperform” Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $3,950.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Booking from $3,580.00 to $4,250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. DA Davidson increased their price objective 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, May 3rd. Erste Group Bank reissued a hold rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $3,876.96.

Booking Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $3,660.00 on Monday. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00. The company has a market cap of $124.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,528.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,418.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $11.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Booking will post 176.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,424 shares of company stock valued at $18,673,145. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 8.8% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,188,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Booking by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,635,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,841,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $879,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.