Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Up 8.1% in January

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 715,700 shares, an increase of 8.1% from the January 15th total of 662,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 238,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKNG has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Booking from $5,100.00 to $4,900.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Booking to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Booking from $4,900.00 to $5,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Booking from $4,100.00 to $5,500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5,044.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Booking during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Booking by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 7 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ BKNG traded up $35.70 during trading on Monday, hitting $5,044.40. 202,438 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,793. The company has a market capitalization of $166.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4,919.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4,510.94. Booking has a 12 month low of $3,180.00 and a 12 month high of $5,337.24.

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.