Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 167,601 shares of the online travel company’s stock after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $31,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,689 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $196.91 on Friday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $207.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $185.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $25.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, research analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Argus raised their price target on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 in the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.