Blue Grotto Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in TripAdvisor, Inc. $TRIP

Blue Grotto Capital LLC purchased a new position in TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,201,962 shares of the travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,686,000. TripAdvisor makes up about 1.9% of Blue Grotto Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Blue Grotto Capital LLC owned approximately 0.85% of TripAdvisor at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in TripAdvisor by 5.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,970,412 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $77,915,000 after purchasing an additional 335,028 shares during the last quarter. Certares Management LLC grew its position in TripAdvisor by 177.3% during the 2nd quarter. Certares Management LLC now owns 4,751,818 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $62,011,000 after acquiring an additional 3,037,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of TripAdvisor by 48.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,837,654 shares of the travel company’s stock worth $37,036,000 after buying an additional 931,283 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in TripAdvisor by 53.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,629,098 shares of the travel company’s stock valued at $34,310,000 after purchasing an additional 912,999 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of TripAdvisor during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,536,000. Institutional investors own 98.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Seth J. Kalvert sold 10,880 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.04, for a total value of $218,035.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,743,756.56. This represents a 7.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TRIP. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of TripAdvisor in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of TripAdvisor from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on TripAdvisor from $13.00 to $12.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of TripAdvisor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of TripAdvisor in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $16.31.

TripAdvisor Stock Performance

TRIP opened at $15.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33. TripAdvisor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.43 and a fifty-two week high of $20.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.39 and a 200 day moving average of $16.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.01.

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The travel company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $553.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.92 million. TripAdvisor had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.23%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that TripAdvisor, Inc. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.