Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 696,900 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the November 30th total of 583,500 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 218,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Garner Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Booking by 0.8% during the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Booking by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 76 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Booking by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Booking by 23.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 16 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BKNG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Booking from $3,560.00 to $4,900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned 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 an average price target of $4,909.90.

Booking Stock Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:BKNG traded down $58.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5,037.39. The company had a trading volume of 116,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,633. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4,969.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,286.61. Booking has a 52-week low of $3,180.00 and a 52-week high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $166.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is 23.75%.

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.