StockNews.com Downgrades Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, August 9th. TD Cowen cut shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down previously from $145.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.54.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE stock opened at $158.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Expedia Group has a one year low of $92.48 and a one year high of $164.65. The stock has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.07.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The online travel company reported $3.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by $0.34. Expedia Group had a net margin of 6.09% and a return on equity of 47.55%. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 8.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $1,502,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 208,505 shares in the company, valued at $31,319,536.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $1,502,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 208,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,319,536.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.60, for a total transaction of $729,128.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,379,487.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,019 shares of company stock worth $5,390,191 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXPE. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 4,525.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 185 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 93.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 217 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.