Analysts Set Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) PT at $5,044.43

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-one analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5,370.43.

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,005.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 price target (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

Booking Stock Down 0.3 %

Booking stock opened at $5,033.83 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4,898.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4,591.58. Booking has a 52 week low of $3,180.00 and a 52 week high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.16 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The business had revenue of $5.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is an increase from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Booking’s payout ratio is 20.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Booking by 0.8% in the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Booking by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.