Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Hold”

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday, FinViz reports. They presently have a $4,200.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $4,350.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.13% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BKNG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,073.38.

Booking Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG opened at $3,813.78 on Wednesday. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,733.04 and a twelve month high of $4,144.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3,786.51 and its 200-day moving average is $3,698.42. The stock has a market cap of $129.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 177.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $401,371,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Booking by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 32,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $113,827,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Booking by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 18,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $67,234,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Van Leeuwen & Company LLC grew its position in Booking by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van Leeuwen & Company LLC now owns 487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. 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.