Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Down 15.5% in March

Key Points

• Short interest down 15.5% — short interest fell to 806,849 shares as of March 31 (about 0.1% of the stock) with a short-interest ratio of 2.5 days based on average daily volume.
• Analysts have trimmed targets recently (Citigroup, Bernstein, Argus among them), but the consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a street target price of $234.47.
• Big quarterly beat: Booking reported $48.80 EPS versus a $1.92 estimate and revenue of $6.35 billion (up 16% year-over-year), surprising analysts on both EPS and top-line.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in 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. Approximately 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 322,443 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Booking from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Oppenheimer set a $240.00 target price on shares of Booking and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Booking in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Booking from $256.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.47.

Booking Price Performance

Shares of Booking stock opened at $189.50 on Friday. Booking has a 1 year low of $150.62 and a 1 year high of $233.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $171.58 and a 200 day moving average of $194.40. The firm has a market cap of $150.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $46.88. Booking had a negative return on equity of 128.99% and a net margin of 20.08%.The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 209.92 EPS for the current year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 298,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,269,532.64. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 59,751 shares of company stock worth $10,343,629 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKNG. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Booking in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. 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.

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