Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given New $6,200.00 Price Target at Benchmark

Key Points

• Benchmark raised its price target for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.98% based on the current stock price.
• Despite the positive outlook from Benchmark, other analysts like Morgan Stanley have reduced their price targets, with Morgan Stanley lowering it from $5,000.00 to $4,800.00.
• Booking's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $55.40 earnings per share (EPS) against the consensus estimate of $50.32 and a revenue of $6.80 billion.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Benchmark from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. Benchmark's target price indicates a potential upside of 15.11% from the stock's current price.

BKNG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $5,700.00 price objective (up from $5,600.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,386.29 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average is $5,568.80 and its 200 day moving average is $5,074.51. The company has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.41. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total transaction of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP increased its holdings in Booking by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 12 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 167 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Booking

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.