Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 169,481 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 442,796 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 169,481 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.34% of Expedia Group worth $82,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 199,327 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $37,093,000 after acquiring an additional 19,825 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in Expedia Group by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 114,690 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $21,370,000 after purchasing an additional 11,379 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new position in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $436,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 181,892 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $33,892,000 after purchasing an additional 4,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EXPE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.43.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $169.07 on Friday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.61.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (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 52.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were 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 was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

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.