Short Interest in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Rises By 12.1%

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 796,800 shares, an increase of 12.1% from the October 15th total of 710,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 216,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity at Booking

In other news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $14,722,379.07. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Booking by 0.8% in the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 258 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 2 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Booking by 0.8% during the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 8.1% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 40 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank raised its position in shares of Booking by 3.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 84 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Booking by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 96 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $4.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $4,975.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 235,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,276. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4,360.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $3,987.27. Booking has a one year low of $3,079.50 and a one year high of $5,069.44. The company has a market cap of $164.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BKNG. B. Riley boosted their price target on Booking from $4,650.00 to $5,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,050.00 to $5,550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,800.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,749.83.

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.