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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total transaction of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC lifted its position in Booking by 4.8% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Booking by 1.7% during the first quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Booking by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 24 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BKNG shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,850.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $3,900.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,130.18.

Booking Trading Up 0.2 %

BKNG traded up $10.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $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 market cap of $146.15 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. Booking has a 12 month low of $2,733.04 and a 12 month high of $4,371.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3,904.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3,803.05.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a negative return on equity of 200.87% and a net margin of 22.46%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $37.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking will post 176.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

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

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.