Evercore Offers Implications On Priceline, TripAdvisor Amid Google's Move Into Online Travel Space

Several stocks in the Online Travel space are in focus Friday afternoon following some earlier analyst commentary on shares of both

and

. In a research note from Friday morning, Evercore Partners' Ken Sena upgraded shares of TripAdvisor from Underweight to Equalweight while at the same time downgrading shares of Priceline from Overweight to Equalweight. The analyst revised his price target on Priceline from $1,450 to $1,350 and on TripAdvisor from $85 to $110. Sena attributed the downgrade on Priceline shares to recently-increasing competition amid

recent travel initiatives. On the other hand, the Evercore analyst did highlight a positive related to the company's "savvy" move into the enterprise space -- namely, the purchases of OpenTable, Buuteeq and Hotel Ninjas. On TripAdvisor, Sena is attracted to the possibility of the company's smooth integration into the assisted bookings space through suppliers and brands. Also in the note, the Evercore analyst added Google to the firm's 'Conviction Buy' list. Priceline shares last traded at $1,191.76, down nearly 2.4 percent for the session, while shares of TripAdvisor are down just 0.2 percent to $98.09.