Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Lowered to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $4,200.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $4,350.00.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BKNG. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $4,650.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Booking from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $3,731.35 on Wednesday. Booking has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,144.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3,773.69 and a 200-day moving average of $3,699.80. The company has a market capitalization of $126.60 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $37.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Booking will post 177.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th 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 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC now owns 487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 352 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 110 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is 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.