Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• "Moderate Buy" consensus from 37 analysts (28 Buy, 8 Hold, 1 Strong Buy) with an average 12‑month price target of about $232.66.
• Several firms have recently trimmed targets—Deutsche Bank to $210, Morgan Stanley to $220 and Argus to $188—reducing implied upside despite ongoing buy/outperform ratings.
• Insiders sold roughly 60,876 shares (~$10.56M) over the last quarter, while institutional investors hold about 92.42% of the stock.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-eight have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $232.6576.

BKNG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Booking to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised Booking from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Gordon Haskett dropped their target price on Booking from $217.60 to $214.80 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wedbush dropped their target price on Booking from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Booking from $256.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.21, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. The trade was a 4.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 60,876 shares of company stock valued at $10,559,629 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter valued at $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after acquiring an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 862.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Booking Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $190.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.84. The company has a market cap of $151.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.20. Booking has a 12-month low of $150.62 and a 12-month high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $46.88. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The business's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Booking will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Booking's payout ratio is presently 25.26%.

Booking News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial raised its price target to $260 and kept a Buy rating, signaling bullish analyst confidence in Booking’s recent results and outlook. Tigress Raises PT to $260
• Positive Sentiment: 24/7 Wall St reiterated a bullish view with a $257.28 price target and a Buy model, highlighting upside vs. current levels. 24/7 Wall St Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: OpenTable (a Booking unit) completed the acquisition of Canadian reservation platform Libro, expanding OpenTable’s footprint in Quebec and strengthening Booking’s restaurant/reservations business. This is strategically accretive to its restaurants unit. OpenTable Acquires Libro
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking announced CFO Ewout Steenbergen will present at Barclays’ Americas Select Conference on May 5; management access can clarify outlook but is informational rather than a direct catalyst. Barclays Conference Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and previews (Zacks/Yahoo) expect earnings growth heading into next week’s report — this raises expectations for a potential beat, but also increases event-driven volatility. Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $210 (but retained a Buy rating), trimming implied upside and likely tempering some investor enthusiasm. Deutsche Bank Lowers PT to $210
• Negative Sentiment: Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan (filed with the SEC). While executed under a trading plan (reducing red-flag risk), insider selling can still be perceived negatively by some investors. Insider Sale SEC Filing

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company's businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.

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