Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Down 8.9% in September

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 705,700 shares, a drop of 8.9% from the September 15th total of 774,900 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 249,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Booking news, insider Paulo Pisano sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,887.61, for a total value of $388,761.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,722,379.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Booking during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of BKNG stock traded up $28.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $4,366.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,192. The company has a market capitalization of $148.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3,942.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $3,811.55. Booking has a 1-year low of $2,733.04 and a 1-year high of $4,390.22.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $41.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $39.22 by $2.68. Booking had a net margin of 22.46% and a negative return on equity of 200.87%. The company had revenue of $5.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $37.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booking will post 176.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $8.75 per share. This represents a $35.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKNG. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $4,700.00 to $4,600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,275.00 to $4,105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Booking from $4,600.00 to $4,200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $4,350.00 to $4,200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,150.00 to $4,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4,130.18.

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.