Short Interest in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Drops By 8.9%

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 705,700 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the September 15th total of 774,900 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 249,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Booking Trading Up 0.2 %

BKNG stock traded up $10.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $4,307.77. The stock had a trading volume of 182,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,572. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3,904.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,803.05. The company has a market capitalization of $146.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,371.17.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $37.62 EPS. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Booking will post 176.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Booking from $3,976.00 to $4,173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Booking from $4,025.00 to $3,860.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booking has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,130.18.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Booking in the first quarter valued at about $401,371,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 4,565.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 62,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $227,143,000 after acquiring an additional 61,268 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Booking by 29.2% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 193,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $702,049,000 after purchasing an additional 43,743 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Booking by 106.0% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after purchasing an additional 36,710 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,755,000 after buying an additional 35,270 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.