By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 696,900 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the November 30th total of 583,500 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 218,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
BKNG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Booking from $4,850.00 to $5,522.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Booking from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Booking from $3,940.00 to $4,510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $5,400.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $4,945.96.
View Our Latest Stock Report on BKNG
Booking Stock Down 0.4 %
Shares of NASDAQ BKNG traded down $22.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $4,968.42. The company had a trading volume of 105,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,695. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4,993.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $4,302.41. The stock has a market cap of $164.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.41. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24.
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 issued a $8.75 dividend. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Booking’s payout ratio is 23.75%.
Institutional Trading of Booking
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Booking by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $166,787,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $18,508,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in Booking by 404.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in Booking by 2.2% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 91 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 2 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Booking by 27.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,529,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.
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.
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