Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,950,000 shares, a growth of 23.9% from the January 31st total of 8,030,000 shares. Approximately 9.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tripadvisor

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CSS LLC IL purchased a new position in Tripadvisor during the 4th quarter worth $379,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Tripadvisor by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 164,792 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 30,752 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Tripadvisor by 150,850.0% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 9,057 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 9,051 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Tripadvisor by 483.9% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 723,904 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $10,692,000 after acquiring an additional 599,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Tripadvisor by 177.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 108,689 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 69,508 shares in the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tripadvisor Price Performance

TRIP opened at $13.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 684.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.04. Tripadvisor has a 1 year low of $12.93 and a 1 year high of $28.76.

Tripadvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The travel company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.08). Tripadvisor had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 0.33%. The firm had revenue of $411.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $400.02 million. Research analysts anticipate that Tripadvisor will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TRIP shares. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Tripadvisor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Tripadvisor in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Tripadvisor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Tripadvisor from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Tripadvisor in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.71.

Tripadvisor Company Profile

TripAdvisor, Inc operates as an online travel company, primarily engages in the provision of travel guidance products and services worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Brand Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork. The Brand Tripadvisor segment offers travel guidance platforms for travelers to discover, generate, and share authentic user-generated content in the form of ratings and reviews for destinations, points-of-interest, experiences, accommodations, restaurants, and cruises.