Wedbush Comments on Booking's Q3 Earnings (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Key Points

• Wedbush has downgraded its Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Booking Holdings from $95.64 to $94.26, while maintaining a "Neutral" rating and a price target of $5,900.00.
• Despite the downgrade on future earnings, Booking reported a strong quarterly performance with $55.40 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations by $5.08, and a revenue of $6.80 billion.
• Booking also announced a quarterly dividend of $9.60 per share, with the dividend yield standing at 0.7% and a payout ratio of 23.89%.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Free Report) - Wedbush lowered their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Booking in a research note issued on Wednesday, July 30th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $94.26 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $95.64. 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. Wedbush also issued estimates for Booking's Q4 2025 earnings at $48.75 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $264.84 EPS.

Several other analysts have also commented on BKNG. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective (up previously from $5,700.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Booking from $5,360.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,750.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Booking from $5,560.00 to $6,500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5,781.04.

Booking Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of BKNG traded down $117.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5,386.29. 199,536 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 184,546. Booking has a 1 year low of $3,180.00 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $5,568.80 and its 200-day moving average is $5,076.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 during 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%. Booking's revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $41.90 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Booking by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,956,462 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,620,154,000 after purchasing an additional 30,054 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 521,609.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,363,345 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,887,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,892 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Booking by 0.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,327 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,706,063,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Booking by 6.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 296,331 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,365,170,000 after buying an additional 18,268 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Booking by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 285,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,416,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 1,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,674,935. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,039 shares of company stock valued at $16,963,769. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Booking Dividend Announcement

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

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.