What is Wedbush's Forecast for Booking FY2025 Earnings?

Key Points

• Analysts at Wedbush have raised their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Booking Holdings from $215.55 to $222.59, while maintaining a "Neutral" rating and a target price of $5,900.
• Several firms, including Citigroup and BTIG Research, have upgraded their ratings on Booking, with Citigroup setting a new price target of $6,500.
• Booking announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, set to be paid on September 30, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.68% and a payout ratio of 23.89%.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Wedbush upped their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Booking in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $222.59 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $215.55. Wedbush has a "Neutral" rating and a $5,900.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Booking's current full-year earnings is $209.92 per share.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BKNG. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Booking from $5,800.00 to $5,650.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,411.00 to $5,418.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5,781.04.

Booking Price Performance

BKNG traded down $117.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 184,546. The stock has a market cap of $174.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $3,180.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $5,568.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5,074.51.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $55.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $50.32 by $5.08. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $41.90 earnings per share.

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 paid a $9.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $38.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Booking's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,695.00, for a total value of $5,769,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 26,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Motco increased its position in Booking by 0.6% in the second quarter. Motco now owns 2,319 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,764,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Booking by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 942 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,454,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,593,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in Booking by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 5,195 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $30,075,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company's stock.

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.