Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys Shares of 3,962 Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,962 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 709.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $72,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on EXPE shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $190.99 on Thursday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $107.25 and a one year high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.00.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted 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 52.41%. Equities research analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.68%.

Expedia Group 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.