Investors Purchase High Volume of Trip.com Group Call Options (NASDAQ:TCOM)

Trip.com Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:TCOM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 3,446 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof48% compared to the typical volume of 2,323 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TCOM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Trip.com Group from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Trip.com Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Trip.com Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Trip.com Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trip.com Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Trip.com Group by 4.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 257,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,345,000 after purchasing an additional 10,124 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Trip.com Group during the first quarter valued at about $690,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Trip.com Group by 57.8% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 7,929 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Trip.com Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $382,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Trip.com Group by 219.7% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 44,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 30,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.41% of the company’s stock.

Trip.com Group Trading Up 11.0%

Shares of Trip.com Group stock traded up $7.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $72.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,660,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,470,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Trip.com Group has a 52 week low of $46.20 and a 52 week high of $77.18. The stock has a market cap of $47.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.51.

About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as a travel service provider for accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and in-destination, corporate travel management, and other travel-related services in China and internationally. The company acts as an agent for hotel-related transactions and selling air tickets, as well as provides train, long-distance bus, and ferry tickets; travel insurance products, such as flight delay, air accident, and baggage loss coverage; and air-ticket delivery, online check-in and seat selection, express security screening, real-time flight status tracker, and airport VIP lounge services.