TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) Stock Sees Heavy Put Option Buying

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 10,119 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 54% compared to the average daily volume of 6,559 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of TripAdvisor from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research lowered shares of TripAdvisor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of TripAdvisor in a report on Monday, July 20th. B. Riley Financial reduced their price target on TripAdvisor from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on TripAdvisor from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Insider Activity at TripAdvisor

In other TripAdvisor news, CEO Almir Ambeskovic sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $75,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,809.20. This represents a 20.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of TripAdvisor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TripAdvisor by 108.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 23,062 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 12,021 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of TripAdvisor by 73.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 58,634 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 24,836 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TripAdvisor in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in TripAdvisor by 128.4% during the third quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,026 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its position in TripAdvisor by 32.0% during the third quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 1,840,229 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $15,403,000 after buying an additional 446,255 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TripAdvisor Price Performance

NASDAQ:TRIP opened at $9.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. TripAdvisor has a twelve month low of $8.02 and a twelve month high of $17.53. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 944.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.99.

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The travel company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). TripAdvisor had a return on equity of 4.23% and a net margin of 0.28%. The firm had revenue of $385.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that TripAdvisor will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

About TripAdvisor

Tripadvisor, Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP) operates a global travel guidance and experiences platform. Its flagship Tripadvisor brand provides user-generated reviews, ratings, photos and travel information covering hotels, restaurants, attractions and destinations, helping travelers research and plan trips.

The company also operates Viator, an online marketplace for tours, activities and other travel experiences, and TheFork, a digital restaurant reservation platform serving diners and restaurants.