Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Director Sells $216,000.00 in Stock

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,050 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Booking Price Performance

• MarketBeat Week in Review – 04/13 - 04/17

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $190.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.57 and a 200-day moving average of $193.84. The company has a market cap of $151.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.20. Booking Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $150.62 and a one year high of $233.58.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $46.88. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

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• Booking Holdings Down 15%, Is It Time to Buy?

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.26%.

Booking News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial raised its price target to $260 and kept a Buy rating, signaling bullish analyst confidence in Booking’s recent results and outlook. Tigress Raises PT to $260
• Positive Sentiment: 24/7 Wall St reiterated a bullish view with a $257.28 price target and a Buy model, highlighting upside vs. current levels. 24/7 Wall St Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: OpenTable (a Booking unit) completed the acquisition of Canadian reservation platform Libro, expanding OpenTable’s footprint in Quebec and strengthening Booking’s restaurant/reservations business. This is strategically accretive to its restaurants unit. OpenTable Acquires Libro
• Neutral Sentiment: Booking announced CFO Ewout Steenbergen will present at Barclays’ Americas Select Conference on May 5; management access can clarify outlook but is informational rather than a direct catalyst. Barclays Conference Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and previews (Zacks/Yahoo) expect earnings growth heading into next week’s report — this raises expectations for a potential beat, but also increases event-driven volatility. Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $210 (but retained a Buy rating), trimming implied upside and likely tempering some investor enthusiasm. Deutsche Bank Lowers PT to $210
• Negative Sentiment: Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan (filed with the SEC). While executed under a trading plan (reducing red-flag risk), insider selling can still be perceived negatively by some investors. Insider Sale SEC Filing

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

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Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Booking by 191,965.8% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,171,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 28,353.8% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after acquiring an additional 203,580 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after acquiring an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Booking by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,173,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKNG. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $236.80 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $256.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Booking and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $232.66.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on BKNG

Booking Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company's businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.

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