JMP Securities Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by JMP Securities in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.36.

Expedia Group Stock Up 17.5 %

Shares of EXPE traded up $30.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $202.74. 5,487,380 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,855,619. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Expedia Group has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $205.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $182.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.92. The stock has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total value of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510 over the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Amundi lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 433,534 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $79,172,000 after buying an additional 57,621 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,225,000. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $257,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $462,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.