Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $149.00 to $137.00. The stock had previously closed at $136.09, but opened at $122.31. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Expedia Group shares last traded at $118.97, with a volume of 4,628,358 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $152.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Expedia Group from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Expedia Group from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total value of $702,377.99. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,844.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ValueAct Holdings L.P. bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $645,346,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,567,830 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $264,627,000 after buying an additional 32,191 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at $334,632,000. Lyrical Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,796,068 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $272,625,000 after buying an additional 13,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,557,816 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $160,564,000 after buying an additional 22,518 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Stock Down 15.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The online travel company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.10. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 6.21%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Research analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com.