Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Up 23.1% in September

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 774,900 shares, a growth of 23.1% from the August 31st total of 629,500 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 249,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares in the company, valued at $14,722,379.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4,067.65, for a total value of $3,050,737.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,556,375.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,722,379.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Booking by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $3,590.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Monday, September 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Booking from $4,300.00 to $3,900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Booking from $4,285.00 to $4,580.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,064.21.

Booking Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded down $20.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4,248.10. The stock had a trading volume of 162,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 219,904. Booking has a 12-month low of $2,733.04 and a 12-month high of $4,272.88. The company has a market cap of $142.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3,789.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3,750.42.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $37.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 176.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

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.