Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Up 19.4% in December

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Booking by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $166,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,508,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Booking by 404.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,933,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Booking by 27.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $4,600.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,909.90.

Booking Trading Down 1.2 %

Booking stock traded down $58.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5,037.39. The stock had a trading volume of 116,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,633. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4,969.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4,286.61. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24. The company has a market capitalization of $166.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a PEG 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.