Cantor Fitzgerald Has Lowered Expectations for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald cut Booking’s price target from $220 to $170 and maintained a “neutral” rating, implying roughly 6% upside from the prior close.
• Despite the downgrade, analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Booking has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $233.95.
• Booking recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 8.1% year over year, while the stock opened at $160.34—near its 12-month low of $150.14.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $220.00 to $170.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the business services provider's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.02% from the company's previous close.

BKNG has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 price target on Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on Booking from $266.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $234.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.95.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $160.34 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $186.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.97. Booking has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $220.81. The stock has a market cap of $120.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.13.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.19 billion. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $55.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total value of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. This trade represents a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 1,500 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.02, for a total transaction of $259,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,440,138. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 83,050 shares of company stock worth $17,182,274 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Booking by 1,615.6% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 13,931 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 13,119 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter worth about $11,687,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2,860.8% in the 2nd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 12,554 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,238,000 after buying an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Booking by 1,663.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 28,698 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,115,000 after buying an additional 27,071 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 4,630.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,175 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 23,664 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel and restaurant reservation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. Through its digital platforms, the company helps consumers search for, compare and reserve accommodations, flights, rental cars, vacation packages, attractions and restaurant reservations.

Its portfolio includes Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and the travel metasearch brands Momondo and Cheapflights. Booking.com is primarily known for lodging reservations, while Priceline focuses on travel deals, Agoda serves customers across international markets with a strong presence in Asia, KAYAK and its related brands provide travel search and comparison services, and OpenTable operates a restaurant reservation platform.

The company was founded in 1997 as Priceline.com and was later renamed The Priceline Group before adopting the Booking Holdings name in 2018.

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