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

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

Booking Stock Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $104.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $3,577.38. 534,621 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 269,375. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $2,456.93 and a fifty-two week high of $3,918.00. The firm has a market cap of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,523.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,395.60.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $8.75 dividend. 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 29.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKNG shares. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,080.00 to $3,610.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3,823.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,437.25, for a total value of $75,619.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $649,640.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 4,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,422.75, for a total value of $14,724,670.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,826,417. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,483 shares of company stock worth $18,891,445. Company insiders own 0.15% 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.