River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 131,161 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 51.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 124,878 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 131,161 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $18,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,364 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 301,932 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $59,077,000 after purchasing an additional 17,680 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,052 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $397,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 50.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,751 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of EXPE opened at $128.73 on Thursday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $87.94 and a one year high of $160.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.86.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The online travel company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 35.79%. On average, analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $159.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $181.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Expedia Group from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $702,377.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,880 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,844.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $702,377.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,492,844.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $1,500,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,486,810.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

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.