Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 849,400 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the May 31st total of 741,900 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 224,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares in the company, valued at $15,157,314.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,580.75, for a total value of $812,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,157,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total value of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,021 shares of company stock worth $3,617,852. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKNG. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 12.0% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Booking by 5.9% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 108 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Booking by 2.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Booking by 383.8% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 1,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in Booking by 1.2% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,069,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. Argus increased their target price on Booking from $4,200.00 to $4,342.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on Booking from $3,900.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Booking currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,902.54.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG opened at $3,968.50 on Monday. Booking has a one year low of $2,624.50 and a one year high of $4,040.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3,759.73 and its 200-day moving average is $3,626.59. The company has a market capitalization of $134.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. Booking had a negative return on equity of 288.35% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $11.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Booking will post 178.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.