Oppenheimer Boosts Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Price Target to $4,600.00

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price objective boosted by Oppenheimer from $4,200.00 to $4,600.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

BKNG has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Benchmark upgraded shares of Booking from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $4,700.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,220.00 to $4,230.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $4,056.31.

Booking Price Performance

Booking stock opened at $3,659.88 on Monday. Booking has a 52-week low of $2,733.04 and a 52-week high of $4,144.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3,887.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3,683.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $11.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 178.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total transaction of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 999 shares of company stock worth $3,939,187 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Booking during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Booking during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.