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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Booking Holdings, with 26 buy, three strong-buy and eight hold ratings among 37 brokerages. The average 12-month price target is approximately $236.98.
• Booking reported quarterly EPS of $2.54, exceeding estimates of $2.43, while revenue reached $7.35 billion, up 8.1% year over year and above expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equating to an annualized $1.68 payout and a 1.0% yield; meanwhile, insiders sold roughly $17.2 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $236.9829.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $220.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Booking from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Booking Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $167.90 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $193.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.20. The company has a market cap of $126.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.07. Booking has a 12 month low of $150.14 and a 12 month high of $225.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.11. Booking had a net margin of 25.53% and a negative return on equity of 102.96%. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $55.40 earnings per share. Booking's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Booking will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Booking's payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Mylod, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,200,000. This trade represents a 23.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ewout L. Steenbergen sold 20,000 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.03, for a total transaction of $4,220,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 59,794 shares in the company, valued at $12,618,327.82. This represents a 25.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $17,182,274 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Booking during the second quarter worth about $11,646,302,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,691,186,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,370,455,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2,525.5% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,101,866 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,087,597,000 after purchasing an additional 5,869,459 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,833.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 5,923,013 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,055,718,000 after buying an additional 5,721,071 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global provider of online travel and related services. The company connects consumers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, restaurants and travel experiences through a portfolio of digital brands and websites.

Its principal brands include Booking.com, which offers lodging, transportation and travel experiences; Priceline, which provides online booking services for hotels, flights, rental cars and vacation packages; Agoda, which focuses primarily on travel bookings in Asia and other international markets; KAYAK, a travel metasearch engine; OpenTable, a restaurant reservation and management platform; and Rentalcars.com, a global car rental service.

Booking Holdings serves customers, travel providers and restaurants across numerous countries and regions, with a particularly extensive international presence.

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