Private Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 73.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,676 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 15,618 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $639,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Expedia Group by 22.5% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $481,170,000 after purchasing an additional 596,510 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $472,212,000 after buying an additional 20,005 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,689,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $250,078,000 after buying an additional 144,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $233,349,000 after acquiring an additional 498,934 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPE has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $197.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.15 and its 200-day moving average is $168.47. The company has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.68%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.