Citigroup Raises Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $6,500.00

Key Points

• Citigroup has raised its target price for Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.11% from the current price and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Booking's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $55.40 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $50.32, with revenue of $6.80 billion, which is a 16.0% increase year-over-year.
• Insiders have sold a total of 3,039 shares of Booking stock valued at approximately $16.96 million in the last quarter, with CEO Glenn D. Fogel reducing his ownership by 3.66%.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Citigroup from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. Citigroup's target price would indicate a potential upside of 20.68% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of 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. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Booking from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG stock traded down $117.77 on Wednesday, reaching $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,546. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,839.41. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $5,568.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $5,076.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $41.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock worth $16,963,769. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 387 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Booking by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,209 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,944,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,306,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by 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.