Empowered Funds LLC Purchases New Stake in TripAdvisor, Inc. $TRIP

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 504,202 shares of the travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,913,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in TripAdvisor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $239,065,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of TripAdvisor by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,567,936 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $182,989,000 after buying an additional 721,957 shares during the period. Starboard Value LP grew its position in shares of TripAdvisor by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 9,644,996 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $140,431,000 after buying an additional 134,512 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of TripAdvisor by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,416,019 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $120,585,000 after buying an additional 1,445,607 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of TripAdvisor by 5.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,973,534 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $42,356,000 after buying an additional 210,591 shares during the last quarter. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of TripAdvisor from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of TripAdvisor from $13.00 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of TripAdvisor from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson increased their price target on TripAdvisor from $10.50 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered TripAdvisor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, TripAdvisor presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at TripAdvisor

In other news, CEO Almir Ambeskovic sold 8,000 shares of TripAdvisor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.30, for a total transaction of $98,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 34,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $423,070.80. This trade represents a 18.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 corporate insiders.

TripAdvisor Stock Performance

Shares of TRIP stock opened at $9.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 987.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.70 and a 200-day moving average of $11.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. TripAdvisor, Inc. has a one year low of $9.01 and a one year high of $20.16.

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The travel company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). TripAdvisor had a net margin of 0.28% and a return on equity of 4.23%. The firm had revenue of $385.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TripAdvisor, Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current year.

TripAdvisor Company Profile

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) is a leading online travel company that operates a digital platform for travel information, reviews and booking services. The company’s flagship website and mobile apps allow users to access and contribute travel-related content—ranging from hotel and restaurant reviews to ratings for tours, attractions and vacation rentals—helping consumers plan and book trips around the world.

The core of TripAdvisor’s offering is its community-driven review system, which aggregates user-generated feedback alongside editorial content and professional photography.