Wedbush Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Booking

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) – Stock analysts at Wedbush raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Booking in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now expects that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $181.62 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $174.90. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $4,750.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Booking’s current full-year earnings is $177.79 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Booking’s Q4 2024 earnings at $35.96 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $21.64 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $95.53 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BKNG. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus downgraded Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on Booking from $4,250.00 to $4,800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4,680.18.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $4,749.11 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4,136.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $3,886.98. Booking has a 1-year low of $2,756.39 and a 1-year high of $4,856.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.85% and a negative return on equity of 166.06%. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $37.62 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Booking during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.75%.

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.