FY2024 Earnings Forecast for Booking Holdings Inc. Issued By Wedbush (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) – Research analysts at Wedbush upped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Booking in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush analyst S. Devitt now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $176.76 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $172.54. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $4,200.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Booking’s current full-year earnings is $178.90 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Booking’s Q4 2024 earnings at $36.62 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on BKNG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $3,950.00 to $3,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,039.73.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $3,328.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39. Booking has a 1 year low of $2,733.04 and a 1 year high of $4,144.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3,872.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3,689.37.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. The business had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $37.62 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Booking by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,954,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,718,390,000 after purchasing an additional 12,456 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 514,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,865,949,000 after acquiring an additional 21,969 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,742,160,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 376,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,336,362,000 after acquiring an additional 15,381 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Booking by 3.1% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 358,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total transaction of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.