Stevens Capital Management LP Takes $261,000 Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,402 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $245,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 9,802 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Expedia Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,855 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 57,409 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $8,498,000 after buying an additional 23,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $383,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on EXPE shares. StockNews.com raised Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Argus increased their price target on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.43.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $178.29 on Tuesday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. The company has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.