Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Short Interest Up 3,234.4% in April

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,600. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.21, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 60,876 shares of company stock worth $10,559,629 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Booking by 7.7% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,132,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Booking by 59.6% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 229.6% during the third quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 339.0% during the third quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC now owns 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Booking by 6.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 72,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $392,009,000 after purchasing an additional 4,589 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KAYAK rolled out “Ask AI,” a conversational travel-planning tool timed for World Cup travel demand — could boost engagement and conversion on seasonal peak bookings. KAYAK Launches Ask AI to Simplify Travel Planning Just in Time for the World Cup
• Positive Sentiment: KAYAK research shows UK travelers planning football-linked summer holidays — a near-term demand tailwind for summer bookings across Booking’s platforms. Brits Are Packing Their Bags for a Summer of Football Abroad, According to KAYAK
• Positive Sentiment: Fiduciary Management (FMI) highlighted Booking in its Q1 letter, signaling some institutional conviction in the business despite broader market turbulence. Here’s Why Fiduciary Management Bets on Booking Holdings (BKNG), The Largest Online Travel Agency
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators point to a valuation gap after recent weakness, framing BKNG as a potential value play given strong gross bookings and cash generation. Booking Holdings Is Trading At A Discount After Its 16% Slump
• Neutral Sentiment: Market is focused on upcoming Q1 results: previews note solid travel demand and AI benefits but warn of slowing room-night growth — Q1 print will likely drive near-term direction. BKNG to Report Q1 Earnings: What’s in the Cards for the Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street metrics previews and estimate updates are circulating; these raise short-term sensitivity to beats/misses on key metrics (room nights, take rate, margins). Ahead of Booking Holdings (BKNG) Q1 Earnings: Get Ready With Wall Street Estimates for Key Metrics
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped sharply in April (as of Apr. 15: ~26.9M shares, ~3.4% of float, ~3.9 days to cover), increasing the risk of downward pressure and more volatile moves on disappointing news (no direct source link available in the feed).
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported and coincided with a recent >5% intra-session drop, which has likely contributed to cautious positioning by investors. Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price Down 5.6% Following Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary (e.g., calls to buy puts) has circulated, adding to negative sentiment and amplifying short-term downside risk absent strong earnings. Booking Holdings: The Cracks Are Showing And It’s Time To Buy Puts
• Neutral Sentiment: One data entry shows a conflicting/erroneous short-interest report (0 shares, NaN change) — investors should rely on official exchange short-interest releases for positioning decisions.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Booking from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Booking from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.66.

Booking Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:BKNG opened at $180.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.06. Booking has a twelve month low of $150.62 and a twelve month high of $233.58. The company has a market capitalization of $142.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Booking will post 10.67 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.26%.

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.