UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price

Key Points

• UBS Group lowered Booking’s price target from $274 to $265 but maintained a “buy” rating, implying approximately 74.9% upside from the reported $151.53 share price.
• Booking’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $2.54 versus a $2.43 consensus estimate and revenue of $7.35 billion, up 8.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $232.81 target price; institutional investors own 92.42% of the company, while insiders sold $16.2 million in stock during the last quarter.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at UBS Group from $274.00 to $265.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. UBS Group's target price points to a potential upside of 74.89% from the company's current price.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. B. Riley Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $274.00 target price (up from $264.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $188.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.81.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $2.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $151.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,500,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,091,407. The company has a market capitalization of $113.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.13. Booking has a twelve month low of $146.28 and a twelve month high of $220.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $170.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.96.

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

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,618,327.82. The trade was a 25.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Peter J. Millones sold 50,050 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 375,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,851,439.75. This represents 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. Insiders have sold 78,425 shares of company stock worth $16,210,864 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Booking by 2,674.6% during 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 last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at about $1,370,455,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Booking by 2,525.5% during 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 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 that connects consumers with travel providers through digital platforms and mobile applications. Its services include accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, restaurant reservations and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of well-known brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, OpenTable, Rentalcars.com and Kayak-associated travel services.

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