Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Ratings On Priceline And Expedia (PCLN, EXPE, GOOG)

Yesterday, Google GOOG announced its acquisition of ITA software for $700 million in cash. Piper Jaffray analysts wrote that "we believe Google is acquiring ITA to build offerings that are similar to current metasearch sites and generally increasing the company's footprint in online travel lead generation." Piper Jaffray believes that the Google (GOOG) acquisition will have no material impact on either Priceline PCLN or Expedia EXPE given that ITA's technology is only used in air reservations. The firm is maintaining their Overweight ratings on both PCLN and EXPE. They have a seemingly ridiculous price target on Priceline (PCLN) of $295. Expedia's (EXPE) price target is at $30. During the current trading session, PCLN has fallen 1.06% to $180.09. EXPE has lost 1.63% to $18.66.