Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Booking Holdings Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 32 research firms, with an average price target of $5,808.81.
• The company's CEO recently sold 1,013 shares for approximately $5.55 million, reducing his stake in the company by 3.95%.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an annualized payout of $38.40 and a yield of 0.7%.

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5,808.8148.

Several research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Erste Group Bank raised Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $97.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5,474.81. 247,054 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 170,010. Booking has a twelve month low of $3,719.34 and a twelve month high of $5,839.41. The company has a market cap of $177.44 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $5,608.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,206.63.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%.The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $41.90 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,476.89, for a total value of $5,548,089.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 24,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,841,031.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,587.11, for a total value of $357,575.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,089,486.45. This trade represents a 24.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,116 shares of company stock worth $22,869,434 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 400.0% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the first quarter worth about $28,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in Booking by 100.0% during the second quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 6 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Booking Company Profile

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.