TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) Stock Jumps 6.5% – Time to Buy?

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) was up 6.5% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $8.35 and last traded at $8.5650. Approximately 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on TripAdvisor from $10.50 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of TripAdvisor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of TripAdvisor in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of TripAdvisor in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of TripAdvisor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.12.

TripAdvisor Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a market cap of $985.65 million, a P/E ratio of 841.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.20.

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $385.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $506.27 million. TripAdvisor had a return on equity of 4.23% and a net margin of 0.28%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that TripAdvisor, Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Almir Ambeskovic sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total value of $75,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,456 shares in the company, valued at $287,809.20. This represents a 20.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in TripAdvisor in the 2nd quarter worth about $239,065,000. Converium Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TripAdvisor in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,460,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of TripAdvisor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,963,000. Callodine Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of TripAdvisor in the first quarter valued at approximately $6,143,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of TripAdvisor in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,913,000. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.