UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Downgrades OpenTable to Neutral, Raises PT

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray & Co. downgraded its rating on OpenTable

from Overweight to Neutral, but raised its price target from $45.00 to $49.00. Piper Jaffray noted, “Analysis of several diner metrics indicates a slight deceleration in industry trends Q3 QTD, which suggests OpenTable's Q3 North American diner growth is tracking essentially in-line with the 26% y/y growth in Q2 (our Q3 estimate is 26% y/y). With OPEN shares up 45% in 6 weeks and now trading at 25x 2013 EPS (a premium to the peer group multiple of 20x), we believe OPEN will need to materially beat Q3 estimates and point to upward revisions for future quarters in order to justify appreciation beyond current levels. We are, therefore, downgrading OPEN from Overweight to Neutral as we believe shares are fairly valued. We are increasing our price target to $49, based on 25x CY13E EPS of $1.96 as recent partnerships with key technology companies (Apple, Yelp and Google) limit risk of competitive share loss, suggesting a multiple slightly above our multi-year estimated EPS growth is justified.” OpenTable closed on Friday at $49.20.