Robert W. Baird Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Robert W. Baird from $5,550.00 to $5,700.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the business services provider's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on BKNG. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $6,100.00 to $5,600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $4,850.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Booking from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $5,262.41.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock traded up $101.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5,202.80. The company had a trading volume of 270,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,957. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $4,652.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4,818.49. The stock has a market cap of $169.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $24.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $17.57 by $7.24. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $20.39 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking's previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Booking's payout ratio is presently 23.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 521,609.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,887,718,000 after buying an additional 2,362,892 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 621,874.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 864,545 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 280,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,394,283,000 after acquiring an additional 95,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Booking by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 368,628 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,831,499,000 after purchasing an additional 58,357 shares during the period. 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.