Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Upgraded at Mizuho

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

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $6,000.00 price objective (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,900.00 to $6,100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Booking from $5,700.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Booking from $5,820.00 to $5,850.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,807.89.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $5,350.56 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5,533.75 and its 200 day moving average is $5,285.05. The company has a market capitalization of $173.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.35. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $4,060.98 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $41.90 EPS. Booking has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value 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 trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,516.92, for a total value of $5,588,639.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 23,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $130,237,930.44. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,195 shares of company stock worth $23,467,630. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Booking by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,620,154,000 after acquiring an additional 30,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 854,838 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,936,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,210,917,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Booking by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 379,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,197,495,000 after acquiring an additional 24,030 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Booking by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 377,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,183,690,000 after acquiring an additional 17,662 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.