UPDATE: Expedia (EXPE) Shares Sink as Piper Jaffray Downgrades Amid Recent Rally

(Updated - June 19, 2012 12:32 PM EDT)

Shares of Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) are being sold Tuesday following an earlier downgrade from Piper Jaffray's Michael Olson. The analyst now rates Expedia shares a Neutral, down from Overweight previously. Olson maintains a $53 price target.

With Expedia shares up 9 percent so far in June and up a very sharp 53 percent since the end of April, the Piper Jaffray analyst's call was based on valuation.

Olson also pointed to data showing the company's three European brands had a sequential uptick in quarterly unique visitors through May, and said April may prove to be a "high point" for the second quarter.

The analyst's top picks for the travel group are Priceline (Nasdaq: PCLN) and TripAdvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP).

Shares of Expedia are down 2.5 percent to $48.71 at last check.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Expedia click here. For more ratings news on Expedia click here.

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