Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Given "Overweight" Rating at Barclays

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Barclays in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $5,700.00 target price on the business services provider's stock, up from their prior target price of $5,600.00. Barclays's price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.13% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BKNG. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Booking from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $5,500.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Booking from $5,120.00 to $5,077.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,580.00 to $5,820.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,453.15.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock traded up $23.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5,707.65. The company had a trading volume of 55,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,509. The firm has a market cap of $185.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,839.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5,489.29 and a 200 day moving average of $5,016.25.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 22.58% and a negative return on equity of 143.67%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $20.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $151,674,935. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

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.