Short Interest in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Decreases By 21.7%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $981,929,000 after purchasing an additional 233,052 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,322,600,000. Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at about $155,427,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position 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 valued at $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 valued at $145,755,000 after buying an additional 35,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BKNG. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Booking from $4,500.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Booking from $4,580.00 to $5,600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Argus lowered Booking from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Booking from $4,100.00 to $4,700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Booking in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $5,850.00 price objective on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $4,820.50.

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of BKNG stock opened at $5,201.98 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $4,599.47 and its 200-day moving average is $4,089.44. Booking has a 52 week low of $3,079.50 and a 52 week high of $5,237.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.38.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors 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 yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.75%.

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.