Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $191.43.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EXPE. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $670,565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,228,090 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $600,750,000 after acquiring an additional 30,163 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,360,374 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $439,808,000 after purchasing an additional 150,480 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,976,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $368,276,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its stake in Expedia Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,763,489 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $328,591,000 after purchasing an additional 28,736 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expedia Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $139.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.26. Expedia Group has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

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.