Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $6.36 EPS

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 433.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $11.60 earnings per share.

Booking Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $3,577.38 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3,524.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,399.84. The stock has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total transaction of $14,724,670.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,826,417. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the sale, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. Company insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Booking from $3,550.00 to $3,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,823.00.

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.