Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BKNG. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $5,120.00 target price (up previously from $4,900.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5,370.43.

Booking Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of BKNG opened at $4,946.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4,896.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,631.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.39. Booking has a 1-year low of $3,180.00 and a 1-year high of $5,337.24.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its position in Booking by 0.8% during the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 2.2% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Booking by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 31 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Booking by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 124 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in Booking by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the period. 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.