Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given Buy Rating at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research reiterated a “Buy” rating on Booking Holdings and set a $250 price target, implying approximately 60% upside from the $155.90 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Booking holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $236.98.
• Booking exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.54 in EPS and $7.35 billion in revenue, with revenue increasing 8.1% year over year; however, insiders sold 83,050 shares worth about $17.2 million over the past three months.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by research analysts at BTIG Research in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $250.00 price objective on the business services provider's stock. BTIG Research's target price points to a potential upside of 60.36% from the company's current price.

BKNG has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $234.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.98.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $155.90 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $192.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.07. The firm has a market cap of $117.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.07. Booking has a 1 year low of $150.14 and a 1 year high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a negative return on equity of 102.96% and a net margin of 25.53%.The firm had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Booking will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.48, for a total transaction of $610,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 73,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,935,432. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.59, for a total value of $10,389,879.50. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 375,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. The trade was a 11.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Booking by 2,674.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,420,711 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $7,026,348,000 after purchasing an additional 37,999,915 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,525.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,087,597,000 after buying an additional 5,869,459 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.

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