Wedbush Comments on Booking Holdings Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) – Investment analysts at Wedbush dropped their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Booking in a report issued on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now anticipates that the business services provider will post earnings of $79.13 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $81.14. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $3,850.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Booking’s current full-year earnings is $176.46 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Booking’s Q4 2024 earnings at $36.02 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $172.54 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $195.91 EPS.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $11.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BKNG. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3,950.00 price target on shares of Booking in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,435.00 to $3,494.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3,823.00.

Booking Stock Up 0.6 %

Booking stock opened at $3,598.41 on Monday. Booking has a twelve month low of $2,456.93 and a twelve month high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $122.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3,526.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3,412.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter worth $1,742,160,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Booking by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,184,224,000 after purchasing an additional 5,040 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,362,000 after buying an additional 15,381 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Booking by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 275,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $976,096,000 after buying an additional 9,419 shares during the period. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Booking by 29.2% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after buying an additional 43,743 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total value of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,483 shares of company stock valued at $18,891,445. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Booking’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

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.