Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.93.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $202.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. Expedia Group has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $205.12. The firm has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $182.07 and its 200-day moving average is $159.92.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 49.25% and a net margin of 7.97%. Sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at $15,345,000. This represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,159,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Expedia Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,393 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 54.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Expedia Group by 12.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,865 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the period. 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.