Argus Downgrades Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) to Hold

Argus downgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,005.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,300.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4,680.18.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $72.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $4,749.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 519,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,676. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.38. Booking has a 52-week low of $2,756.39 and a 52-week high of $4,856.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $4,136.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,883.88.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $83.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $77.94 by $5.95. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 166.06%. The business had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.63 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Booking will post 177.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.75%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business's 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Booking by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,718,390,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after buying an additional 21,969 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in Booking by 3.1% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after buying an additional 10,889 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 43,743 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the third quarter worth about $5,322,600,000. 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.