Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Update

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 624,100 shares, a decline of 21.7% from the October 31st total of 796,800 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 222,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Booking by 342,723.5% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $981,929,000 after acquiring an additional 233,052 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth $5,322,600,000. Harvard Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter worth $155,427,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Booking by 106.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 71,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $282,590,000 after acquiring an additional 36,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Booking by 2,315.8% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 36,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,755,000 after acquiring an additional 35,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $21.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5,201.98. The company had a trading volume of 132,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,434. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4,599.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4,091.65. The company has a market capitalization of $172.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38. Booking has a 12-month low of $3,079.50 and a 12-month high of $5,237.00.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Booking from $5,000.00 to $5,400.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus lowered shares of Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,900.00 to $4,750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,820.50.

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.