Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Up 14.5% in December

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 644,500 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the November 30th total of 563,100 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 371,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Booking from $2,370.00 to $2,430.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Booking to $2,370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Booking from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Susquehanna Bancshares dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $2,800.00 to $2,650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Booking from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,424.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 35 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,966.84, for a total transaction of $68,839.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,864.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Booking during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Booking by 63.6% in the second quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 18 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. St. James Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Booking by 50.0% in the third quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Booking in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.23% of the company's stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG opened at $2,015.28 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,954.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,886.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.28. Booking has a 52-week low of $1,616.85 and a 52-week high of $2,715.66.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 2nd. The business services provider reported $53.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $49.40 by $3.63. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $37.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 95.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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