Morgan Stanley Increases Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $4,000.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $3,700.00 to $4,000.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley lifted their price target on Booking from $4,400.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Booking from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $4,056.31.

Booking Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,700.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,887.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,685.10. Booking has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $11.60 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Booking will post 178.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 999 shares of company stock valued at $3,939,187 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the period. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.