Traders Buy Shares of Booking (BKNG) on Weakness

Investors bought shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) on weakness during trading hours on Thursday. $251.19 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $191.74 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $59.45 million into the stock. Of all stocks tracked, Booking had the 17th highest net in-flow for the day. Booking traded down ($16.83) for the day and closed at $1,743.88

BKNG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $2,400.00 target price (up previously from $2,300.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Booking from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $2,100.00 to $2,050.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank raised shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $2,150.00 to $2,370.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 5th. SunTrust Banks reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $2,150.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,157.70.

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The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $78.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.03.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 27th. The business services provider reported $22.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $19.39 by $3.10. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. Booking had a net margin of 27.52% and a return on equity of 44.63%. The company’s revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $16.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 101.74 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, CEO Gillian Tans sold 294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,796.66, for a total value of $528,218.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey E. Epstein sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,715.00, for a total transaction of $428,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 838 shares of company stock worth $1,455,298. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Next Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Lake Point Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Athena Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.64% of the company’s stock.

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Booking Company Profile (NASDAQ:BKNG)

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.

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