Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 574,100 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the October 31st total of 509,500 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 395,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.
Insider Activity at Booking
In related news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 41 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,750.00, for a total value of $71,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 834 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Booking news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 200 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,002.18, for a total transaction of $400,436.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,833,255.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 41 shares of Booking stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,750.00, for a total transaction of $71,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 834 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 431 shares of company stock worth $850,411. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Booking in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 85.7% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 13 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Booking by 63.6% in the second quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 18 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC lifted its holdings in Booking by 200.0% in the first quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 15 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently commented on BKNG. JMP Securities reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $2,300.00 to $2,250.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $2,400.00 to $2,300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $2,200.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Booking from $2,300.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Booking from $2,600.00 to $2,500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,424.85.
Booking Stock Performance
BKNG stock traded up $25.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $2,085.44. 270,390 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 421,175. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Booking has a 52 week low of $1,616.85 and a 52 week high of $2,715.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,833.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,916.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.28.
Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 2nd. The business services provider reported $53.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $49.55 by $3.48. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. Booking had a net margin of 15.23% and a return on equity of 81.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $37.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Booking will post 93.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.
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.
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Read More: Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Update