Mizuho Upgrades Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) to Hold

Mizuho upgraded shares of Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BKNG has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $5,650.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,807.89.

Booking Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $5,399.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,541.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,284.60. Booking has a 1 year low of $4,060.98 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Booking had a net margin of 19.23% and a negative return on equity of 134.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a dividend of $9.60 per share. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, Director Larry Quinlan sold 64 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,511.80, for a total value of $352,755.20. Following the sale, the director owned 131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $722,045.80. The trade was a 32.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 15 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,500.00, for a total transaction of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,108,500. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,195 shares of company stock valued at $23,467,630. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Booking by 27.3% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,592,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Booking by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Booking by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 513 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,363,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.