Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $4,398.00 and last traded at $4,394.02, with a volume of 29407 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $4,347.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $5,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $3,590.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,256.89.

Booking Trading Up 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $149.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4,100.42 and its 200-day moving average is $3,866.59.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $37.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 177.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Booking by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,718,390,000 after buying an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after acquiring an additional 21,969 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Booking by 29.2% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Booking by 22.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 159,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $584,492,000 after purchasing an additional 28,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

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.