Traders Buy High Volume of Trip.com Group Put Options (NASDAQ:TCOM)

Trip.com Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:TCOM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 8,449 put options on the company. This is an increase of 105% compared to the average volume of 4,120 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on TCOM. Bank of America reduced their price target on Trip.com Group from $78.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research lowered Trip.com Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Trip.com Group from $79.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Trip.com Group from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Nomura decreased their target price on Trip.com Group from $71.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Trip.com Group by 237.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in Trip.com Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Trip.com Group by 601.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 554 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Trip.com Group by 384.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in Trip.com Group by 69.3% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.41% of the company’s stock.

Trip.com Group Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of TCOM stock opened at $42.45 on Friday. Trip.com Group has a 12-month low of $38.04 and a 12-month high of $78.99. The company has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a PE ratio of 6.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of -0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Trip.com Group had a return on equity of 17.57% and a net margin of 48.26%.Trip.com Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Trip.com Group will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group (NASDAQ: TCOM) is a China-based online travel services company that provides a broad range of consumer and business travel products. The company operates consumer-facing travel platforms and mobile apps that enable users to search, book and manage hotel reservations, airline tickets, packaged tours, rail travel, car rentals, airport transfers and local activities. It also offers corporate travel management and B2B solutions that support travel suppliers and downstream distribution partners.

Headquartered in Shanghai, Trip.com Group serves customers across China and increasingly in international markets through a portfolio of brands and global distribution channels.