Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,280,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the May 31st total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Piper Sandler cut shares of Expedia Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $149.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $158.00 to $138.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Monday, April 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.12.

Expedia Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $124.25. The stock had a trading volume of 845,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,495,796. The firm has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93. Expedia Group has a twelve month low of $92.48 and a twelve month high of $160.05.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The online travel company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.96) by $0.57. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.80 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 41.63%. On average, research analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 9.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.38, for a total transaction of $61,678.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,268,382.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.38, for a total transaction of $61,678.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,268,382.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 6,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.71, for a total transaction of $757,636.62. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,676,600.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 4,525.0% during the 1st 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. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. City State Bank boosted its position in Expedia Group by 157.3% during the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 193 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the first quarter worth $40,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.