Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Position Lessened by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,465 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 4,087 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $2,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Expedia Group by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $481,170,000 after purchasing an additional 596,510 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $472,212,000 after purchasing an additional 20,005 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $250,078,000 after purchasing an additional 144,579 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 498,934 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $197.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.36. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 55.42%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Melius raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Expedia Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

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.