Insider Selling: Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) CFO Sells $487,500.00 in Stock

Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) CFO Elinor Mertz sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $487,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 402,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,314,210. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Elinor Mertz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 2nd, Elinor Mertz sold 3,750 shares of Airbnb stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $487,500.00.
• On Friday, January 2nd, Elinor Mertz sold 3,750 shares of Airbnb stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $509,775.00.
• On Friday, December 12th, Elinor Mertz sold 7,500 shares of Airbnb stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $975,000.00.

Airbnb Stock Down 1.9%

NASDAQ ABNB opened at $133.23 on Friday. Airbnb, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.88 and a fifty-two week high of $143.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.56 and a 200-day moving average of $126.56. The stock has a market cap of $81.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.12.

Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.10). Airbnb had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 30.88%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Airbnb, Inc. will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Airbnb

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABNB. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Airbnb by 3.5% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 962,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,873,000 after buying an additional 32,501 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Airbnb by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,925,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,186,000 after acquiring an additional 31,120 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its stake in shares of Airbnb by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 66,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,022,000 after acquiring an additional 8,636 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Airbnb by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 364,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,297,000 after acquiring an additional 55,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Airbnb by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,096,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,126,000 after acquiring an additional 12,453 shares during the last quarter. 80.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Airbnb News

Here are the key news stories impacting Airbnb this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha highlights accelerating bookings and strong free cash flow, reinforcing Airbnb’s operational momentum and cash-generation profile that support valuation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho (reported by American Banking News) said ABNB’s stock is expected to rise, signaling at least one analyst view that upside remains and contributing to ongoing analyst support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on eco?tourism and product innovation points to differentiated demand (eco-conscious travelers, new product features) that could broaden demand and improve long?term growth visibility. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings roundups reiterate a mixed print: revenue beat but an EPS miss (reported in February), so fundamentals are improving but near?term profitability metrics disappointed some expectations. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest reporting in the feeds shows anomalous/zero values and appears unreliable; it does not provide a clear short?pressure signal at this time.
• Negative Sentiment: Benzinga and other outlets point to fresh escalations in the U.S.–Israel–Iran conflict as the immediate driver of weakness — geopolitical risk is reducing near?term travel visibility and investor appetite for travel/leisure exposure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO Elinor Mertz sold multiple small blocks of shares recently (3,750 shares on Mar 2), which some investors interpret as a modest negative signal despite the small size relative to overall insider holdings. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Airbnb in a report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial upgraded Airbnb from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup raised shares of Airbnb from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Airbnb from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Airbnb from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.42.

Airbnb Company Profile

Airbnb, Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB) operates a global online marketplace that connects travelers with hosts offering short-term lodging, unique accommodations and related travel experiences. The company’s core platform enables individuals and professional property managers to list private homes, apartments, single rooms and entire properties, while providing search, booking and payment processing for guests. Airbnb earns revenue primarily through service fees charged to guests and hosts and offers tools to facilitate reservations, communications, and logistics between parties.

Beyond accommodations, Airbnb has expanded its product portfolio to include curated experiences led by local hosts, higher-end offerings such as Airbnb Luxe, and programs aimed at enhancing quality and safety like Airbnb Plus.