Short Interest in Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG) Drops By 15.9%

Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,810,000 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the November 30th total of 6,910,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 888,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Global Business Travel Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Global Business Travel Group by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,339,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,993,000 after acquiring an additional 386,636 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 21.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,946,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,972,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 1,116.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,007,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,652,000 after purchasing an additional 925,018 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 41.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 806,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,202,000 after purchasing an additional 237,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the third quarter worth about $2,077,000. 82.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GBTG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Global Business Travel Group from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Global Business Travel Group from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Global Business Travel Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock.

Global Business Travel Group Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of GBTG stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.37. 560,795 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,284. Global Business Travel Group has a fifty-two week low of $4.49 and a fifty-two week high of $9.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $8.80 and its 200-day moving average is $7.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.03 and a beta of 0.73.

Global Business Travel Group (NYSE:GBTG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $597.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $611.89 million. Global Business Travel Group had a negative net margin of 7.06% and a negative return on equity of 9.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Global Business Travel Group will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Business Travel Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Global Business Travel Group

Global Business Travel Group, Inc provides business-to-business (B2B) travel platform in the United States and internationally. The company's platform offers a suite of technology-enabled solutions to business travelers and clients; travel content suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, ground transportation, and aggregators; and third-party travel agencies.