Analyst Update: Yahoo!, TripAdvisor, RF Micro Devices

Markets have moved lower this afternoon as traders take some profits off the table ahead of the weekend. Meanwhile, among equities in focus are Internet issue Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), online travel company TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), and semiconductor specialist RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD), which have all attracted the attention of analysts.

• YHOO tagged another 14-year peak of $51.95 earlier -- but was last seen up 2.5% at $51.77 -- after FBR boosted its price target on the shares to $60 from $50, and underscored its "outperform" rating. It's been a standout year for Yahoo! Inc., which has rallied 28%, and a continued rise could prompt another round of bullish brokerage notes. At present, nine of the 25 analysts covering the shares still maintain a tepid "hold" rating, and the consensus 12-month price target of $49.68 stands at a discount to current trading levels.


• TRIP, meanwhile, wallowed to a fresh annual low of $67.14 this morning, following a price-target cut to $80 from $87 -- and lackluster "hold" recommendation -- at Evercore. However, this new price target still represents expected upside of 15.8% to the stock's present price of $69.11. On the charts, the security has been steadily losing ground since topping out at a record high of $111.24 in late June, and is down almost 38% from this technical milestone. Option traders and short sellers alike are gambling on additional losses for the shares. TRIP's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) put/call volume ratio of 2.00 ranks in the bearishly skewed 85th percentile of its annual range. Short interest, meanwhile, accounts for a lofty 9.9% of the equity's available float, and would take seven sessions to cover, at TripAdvisor Inc's average daily pace of trading.


• Pacific Crest weighed in on RFMD earlier, raising its price target by $1 to $15, and reiterating its "outperform" rating. This echoes the withstanding trend witnessed among the brokerage bunch, with 69% of covering analysts maintaining a "buy" or "strong buy" suggestion, and the average 12-month price target of $15.33 standing in territory not charted since June 2002. Option traders, meanwhile, have taken a more skeptical route, as evidenced by RFMD's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.15, which ranks higher than 76% of similar readings taken over the past year. Given RF Micro Devices, Inc.'s impressive 162% year-to-date advance that has the stock lingering near $13.50, though, a portion of this recent put buying may have been at the hands of shareholders protecting paper profits.