South Dakota Investment Council Sells 11,600 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,795 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 11,600 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $9,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $313,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 450,182 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $46,400,000 after purchasing an additional 41,900 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 79.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 354 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,092 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 7,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total value of $702,377.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,844.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,844.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $1,500,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,521 shares in the company, valued at $32,486,810.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Expedia Group from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $155.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Benchmark lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.12.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.23. 1,042,037 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,423,966. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $134.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.64. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $87.94 and a one year high of $160.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.86.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The online travel company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 6.21%. Equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

About Expedia Group

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.