Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Lower Earnings for Booking

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) – Stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald cut their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Booking in a report released on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst D. Mathivanan now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $197.85 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $208.81. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $4,330.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Booking’s current full-year earnings is $209.92 per share.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Booking from $5,560.00 to $5,960.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Booking from $5,155.00 to $5,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $5,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $5,248.00 to $4,567.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5,278.66.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Booking stock opened at $4,573.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4,695.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $4,771.47. Booking has a twelve month low of $3,180.00 and a twelve month high of $5,337.24.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The business services provider reported $41.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $35.82 by $5.73. Booking had a net margin of 24.78% and a negative return on equity of 159.34%. The firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion.

Booking Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $9.60 per share. This is a positive change from Booking’s previous quarterly dividend of $8.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $38.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 22.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,321,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 179,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,455,000 after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,160,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% 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.