Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 487 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Booking Holdings by 15.5%, after selling 487 shares, leaving them with 2,650 shares valued at approximately $12.2 million.
• Booking reported a Q2 EPS of $55.40, surpassing analysts' estimates of $50.32, alongside a revenue of $6.80 billion, marking a 16% increase compared to the prior year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, to be paid on September 30th to shareholders of record.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its holdings in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,650 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Booking were worth $12,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded down $41.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $5,364.25. 174,936 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 201,089. Booking Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3,399.27 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,566.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,105.18. The stock has a market cap of $173.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 134.19% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a $9.60 dividend. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Booking's payout ratio is presently 26.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BKNG shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $6,000.00 price target (up from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Booking from $5,600.00 to $5,700.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $6,200.00 target price (up previously from $6,000.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $5,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Booking to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5,781.04.

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.