Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock Price

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $166.00 to $187.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the online travel company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EXPE. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Price Performance

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $202.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Expedia Group has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $205.12. The stock has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $182.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.92.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 49.25%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,345,000. This represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,174,510 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 709.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Company Profile

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.