Online travel booking company Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN) recently announced the integration of Apple Pay on its iPhone and iPad iOS8 applications in addition to launching a newly redesigned version of its restaurant booking platform, Open Table.
However, Priceline fell 2.5% in trading yesterday as Goldman Sachs analyst Heath Terry removed the company from the firms “America’s Conviction Buy List.” In fact, Priceline stock has fallen 10% in the past month alone. Terry attributed Priceline’s removal from this list to the “multi-year decline in the euro expected by GS Macro [which] will likely limit out performance in the stock.”
Despite all this, Terry still reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a 12-month price target of $1,400, noting “we believe Priceline will continue to outgrow the broader online travel market as mobile usage and metasearch drive share consolidation and margin benefits with it.” He continued, “Since being added to the Americas Conviction List on November 20, 2013, the shares are down 4% versus the S&P up 11% as the macro environment in Europe failed to see the recovery we expected at the beginning of the year.”
Terry currently has a 55% success rate recommending stocks with a +14.6% average return per recommendation. He has rated Priceline 10 times, earning a 60% success rate recommending the stock.
On December 16, Merril Lynch analyst Justin Post also resumed coverage on Priceline with a Buy rating and $1,310 price target with the expectation of the online travel market to grow 7% in the next year due to lower oil prices sparking more travel. In addition, Post named Priceline as his “top pick” in its sector due to its growth outlook and stock price.
Post currently has a 60% success rate recommending stocks and a +19.7% average return per recommendation. The analyst has rated Priceline 5 times with a 60% success rate recommending the stock.
On average, the top analyst consensus for Priceline on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.
