Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $6.36 EPS

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.03 by $6.36, Briefing.com reports. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $104.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $3,577.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 534,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,375. The firm has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3,523.00 and a 200-day moving average of $3,395.60. Booking has a 12 month low of $2,456.93 and a 12 month high of $3,918.00.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.67%.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total value of $1,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $4,205.00 price objective (up from $4,150.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,823.00.

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.