Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB) recently witnessed a decrease in its share price as a result of insider selling activity. On Friday, before the market opened, the stock price dropped from $118.40 to $114.96. The shares were last traded at $113.96 with a volume of 1,711,392 shares. The company’s CAO David C. Bernstein sold 12,382 shares of its stock on Thursday – February 16th – at an average price of $140.00 amounting to a total transaction value of $1,733,480.00.
Despite insider selling activity causing some turbulence for investors and analysts alike, Airbnb remains a strong player in the marketplace. With impressive numbers reported in the last quarter earnings call on February 14th, Airbnb beat analyst consensus estimates posting earnings per share of $0.48 for Q4 of fiscal year 2023.
The platform’s unique model that allows hosts to offer stays and experiences all over the world has continued to prove popular with travellers and investors alike; particularly during these unprecedented times where stay-at-home orders have become commonplace.
Airbnb shares have been a hot topic for analysts over recent weeks with Cowen recommending an ‘outperform’ rating whilst lifting their price target from $135 to $145 in their report from February 15th.
HSBC chose to raise their Airbnb price target by $5 from $158 to $163 on Thursday – February 16th- confirming their faith in Airbnb despite the recent insider sales and lower share prices.
The Royal Bank of Canada has given Airbnb a “sector perform” rating citing key issues such as slow growth due to new-comer competition which can impact market share percentage.
Finally KeyCorp has highlighted promising implications for Airbnb stating that financial performance throughout FY22 is expected to be favourable which led them to increase their price objective by a staggering $2 from$142 and $144.
Currently, centrist analysts hold a ‘hold’ rating for Airbnb with an average price target set at $141.58. With the market cap of the company hitting $72.31 billion and a PE ratio of 42.29; investors will be keeping an eye on future developments to see what further offerings Airbnb can bring both to hosts and investors alike in the future.
Institutional Investors Bet Big on Airbnb’s Future with Growing Confidence
Airbnb, the online marketplace for vacation rentals, has been attracting a lot of attention from institutional investors recently. According to the latest reports released on April 22, 2023, several major players in the investment industry have bought and sold shares of ABNB, indicating growing confidence in the company’s future prospects.
Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd., for instance, has increased its holdings in Airbnb by a staggering 9% during the first quarter of this year. They now own an impressive 772,642 shares of Airbnb stock worth $132,709,000 after purchasing an additional 63,601 shares during the same period.
TradeLink Capital LLC also entered a new position in Airbnb during this quarter with an investment worth nearly $1 million. Meanwhile, Synovus Financial Corp has grown its holdings in Airbnb by 22.5%, owning now 1,490 shares valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter.
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP was another strong player that grew its holdings in Airbnb by almost 28% during Q1-2023. The fund advisors now own over 2,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $433k after acquiring an additional 549 shares during this period.
Finally yet importantly to note is that Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Airbnb during Q1-2023 worth around $2 million.
In total as per reports issued on April 22nd – approximately about 39% of ABNB stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors who are clearly betting big on the company’s fortunes.
The scenario highlights how these institutional investors see Airbnb as a growth opportunity and believe that it poses great value investments despite being received negatively during earlier public transaction record which did affect current market valuation but likely willing to give them leeway for growth potential based on future optimistic data analysis projections or because they’re bet is for much longer-term & practical.
Despite facing severe challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown that affects the global travel sector, Airbnb’s rebounded and improved significantly once restrictions lifted thanks to its operational agility and robust business model.
As the tourism industry continues to bounce back, it seems like more institutional investors are recognizing Airbnb as an excellent option to invest in. With investors continuing to show faith in ABNB, it remains to be seen how such investment initiatives impact this successful vacation rental online marketplace in the long run.
