Benchmark Reiterates Buy Rating for Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM)

Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities research analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark’s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.06% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Trip.com Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Trip.com Group from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Trip.com Group from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on Trip.com Group from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Trip.com Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.67.

Trip.com Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TCOM traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,117,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,888,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.23. Trip.com Group has a 1-year low of $30.70 and a 1-year high of $50.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.31. The firm has a market cap of $31.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29 and a beta of 0.56.

Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Trip.com Group had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 22.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Trip.com Group will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trip.com Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Trip.com Group by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,395,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,592,000 after acquiring an additional 11,039,672 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Trip.com Group by 3,752.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,886,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,006,000 after purchasing an additional 9,629,673 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Trip.com Group in the fourth quarter worth $213,195,000. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in Trip.com Group during the first quarter worth $168,290,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Trip.com Group by 18.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 25,456,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,559,000 after buying an additional 3,893,531 shares in the last quarter. 35.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group Limited operates as a travel service provider for accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and in-destination, corporate travel management, and other travel-related services in China and internationally. The company acts as an agent for hotel-related transactions and selling air tickets, as well as provides train, long-distance bus, and ferry tickets; travel insurance products, such as flight delay, air accident, and baggage loss coverage; and air-ticket delivery, online check-in and seat selection, express security screening, real-time flight status tracker, and airport VIP lounge services.