Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $202.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $183.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.44. 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 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73. The company has a market cap of $25.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 10.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. 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 related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,345,000. The trade was a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,951 shares of company stock worth $3,900,580 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 33.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Expedia Group by 16.9% during the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,449 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Expedia Group by 13.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $96,171,000 after purchasing an additional 75,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $527,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Expedia Group Company Profile

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.