Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $4,398.00 and last traded at $4,394.02, with a volume of 29407 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $4,347.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on BKNG shares. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Booking from $4,200.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,256.89.

Booking Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,071.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,856.08. The firm has a market cap of $148.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $37.62 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. VELA Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Booking in the third quarter valued at $315,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 5.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Booking by 27.3% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,025,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,050,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.