Wells Fargo & Company Raises Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $5,418.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target for Booking Holdings Inc. from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, which indicates a potential downside of 2.85% from the previous close.
• Booking's recent quarterly earnings reflected a 16.0% increase in revenue year-over-year, reporting $6.80 billion against an estimated $6.54 billion, and exceeding EPS estimates of $50.32 by $5.08.
• Institutional investors have significantly increased their positions in Booking, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its shareholding by 521,609.7% in the first quarter, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company's future performance.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on BKNG. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,720.00 to $5,630.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Booking stock traded down $75.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5,429.04. 44,607 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 253,645. The firm has a market cap of $175.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $5,567.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,070.33. Booking has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's payout ratio is currently 23.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer 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 available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Booking by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 898 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,202,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 2.4% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 171 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 12.6% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 232 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 17.6% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,471,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.