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

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during 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. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 218,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Institutional Trading of Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its position in shares of Booking by 55.9% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd lifted its stake in Booking by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Booking by 342,723.5% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares during the period. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 75.9% during the third quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,038,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $5,400.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Booking from $5,500.00 to $6,000.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,945.96.

Booking Stock Down 0.4 %

Booking stock traded down $22.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $4,968.42. The stock had a trading volume of 102,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,685. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $4,981.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,294.60. Booking has a 12-month low of $3,180.00 and a 12-month high of $5,337.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.41.

Booking Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.75%.

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.