Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Tripadvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP)

Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 9,754 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 192% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,338 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Tripadvisor in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Tripadvisor from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. B. Riley boosted their target price on Tripadvisor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Tripadvisor from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Tripadvisor from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Tripadvisor Stock Performance

Tripadvisor stock opened at $17.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 77.96, a PEG ratio of 8.68 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Tripadvisor has a 1 year low of $12.93 and a 1 year high of $28.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.01.

Tripadvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The travel company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Tripadvisor had a net margin of 1.98% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The business had revenue of $532.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $527.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Tripadvisor’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Tripadvisor will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Tripadvisor by 204.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,298 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Tripadvisor by 65.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,499 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Tripadvisor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Tripadvisor during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Tripadvisor by 204.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,675 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Tripadvisor

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.