Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Update

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 26,903,872 shares, an increase of 3,234.4% from the March 31st total of 806,849 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,941,760 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KAYAK rolled out “Ask AI,” a conversational travel planner timed for World Cup demand — a product push that could lift bookings/conversion and supports BKNG’s AI-driven revenue narrative. KAYAK Launches Ask AI to Simplify Travel Planning Just in Time for the World Cup
• Positive Sentiment: KAYAK consumer research shows British travelers are booking trips around the summer football calendar, signaling stronger near-term demand for international room nights. Brits Are Packing Their Bags for a Summer of Football Abroad, According to KAYAK
• Positive Sentiment: Fiduciary Management highlighted BKNG in its Q1 letter, reflecting institutional conviction amid market volatility — a vote of confidence that can support share demand. Here’s Why Fiduciary Management Bets on Booking Holdings (BKNG), The Largest Online Travel Agency
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst previews (Zacks/Yahoo) emphasize solid travel demand and AI tailwinds but flag slowing room-night growth as a potential drag — Q1 results and metrics (room nights, take rate, marketing spend) are the key near-term data points. BKNG to Report Q1 Earnings: What’s in the Cards for the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation commentary (Trefis) argues BKNG looks attractively priced after a year‑to‑date slump, which can attract value-seeking buyers if fundamentals remain intact. Booking Holdings Is Trading At A Discount After Its 16% Slump
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling reported recently spurred downward pressure and may have amplified volatility and the prior multi‑day selloff. Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price Down 5.6% Following Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish pieces (e.g., Seeking Alpha “buy puts”) and headlines noting recent ~6% drops keep sentiment cautious ahead of earnings. Booking Holdings: The Cracks Are Showing And It’s Time To Buy Puts

Booking Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BKNG traded up $3.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $180.26. The stock had a trading volume of 6,255,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,485,262. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.32. Booking has a 1-year low of $150.62 and a 1-year high of $233.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.20.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $46.88. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Booking’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Booking will post 10.67 EPS for the current year.

Booking Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Booking

In related news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 16,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.36, for a total transaction of $3,100,331.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 298,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,269,532.64. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 60,876 shares of company stock valued at $10,559,629 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKNG. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Booking in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BKNG. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $216.28 to $187.92 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Booking from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Booking from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Booking from $240.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.66.

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.