Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 806,849 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the March 15th total of 955,124 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 322,443 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Booking Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $189.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.05 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $150.62 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $171.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.40.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $46.88. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. Booking’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Booking’s payout ratio is presently 25.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark lowered their price target on Booking from $256.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $260.00 to $237.40 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $244.00 target price on shares of Booking in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.80 target price on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.21, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,751 shares of company stock worth $10,343,629. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in Booking by 191,965.8% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,832,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,171,489,000 after buying an additional 2,831,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,271,041,000. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Booking by 28,353.8% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 204,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,083,000 after acquiring an additional 203,580 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Booking by 862.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 218,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,167,890,000 after purchasing an additional 195,411 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Booking by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 966,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,173,899,000 after purchasing an additional 128,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.