Blume Capital Management Inc. Sells 510 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Blume Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,933 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 510 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% during the fourth 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 stake in shares of Expedia Group by 709.8% during the third 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 purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EXPE. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.61.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $157.11 on Friday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share 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 expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.