Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

BKNG has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,120.00 price target (up from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,250.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Baird R W raised Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock traded down $2.86 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $4,589.03. The company had a trading volume of 239,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 231,724. Booking has a one year low of $3,180.00 and a one year high of $5,337.24. The firm has a market cap of $150.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $4,792.05 and a 200 day moving average of $4,689.82.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $4,295,423,000 after acquiring an additional 864,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 803,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,986,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Booking by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 492,274 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,073,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 418,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,763,797,000 after buying an additional 13,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,958,352,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.