TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) Trading Up 6.5% – Still a Buy?

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) rose 6.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $8.35 and last traded at $8.5650. 2,742,547 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 3,699,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TRIP. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on TripAdvisor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of TripAdvisor from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of TripAdvisor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of TripAdvisor in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of TripAdvisor from $10.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, TripAdvisor presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.12.

TripAdvisor Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 859.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.83.

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The travel company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $385.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.27 million. TripAdvisor had a return on equity of 4.23% and a net margin of 0.28%.TripAdvisor’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that TripAdvisor, Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at TripAdvisor

In related news, CEO Almir Ambeskovic sold 8,000 shares of TripAdvisor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total value of $75,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,456 shares in the company, valued at $287,809.20. This trade represents a 20.80% 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. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRIP. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of TripAdvisor in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in TripAdvisor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in TripAdvisor by 192.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,767 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in TripAdvisor in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in TripAdvisor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TripAdvisor Company Profile

Tripadvisor, Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP) operates a global travel guidance platform that helps consumers research, plan and book trips. Its flagship Tripadvisor website and mobile applications feature traveler reviews, ratings, photos and other user-generated content covering hotels, restaurants, attractions and destinations. The platform also provides travel-planning tools, advertising solutions and links to booking partners.

The company’s portfolio includes Viator, an online marketplace for tours, activities and experiences, and TheFork, a restaurant-discovery and reservation platform.