Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates Neutral Rating for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $210.00 target price on the online travel company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $180.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on EXPE. Baird R W raised Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Trading Up 17.3 %

Expedia Group stock opened at $202.37 on Friday. Expedia Group has a 12-month low of $107.25 and a 12-month high of $205.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.07 and a 200 day moving average of $159.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 49.25% and a net margin of 7.97%. As a group, research analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. This trade represents a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at $15,345,000. This represents a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 33.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 13.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $96,171,000 after purchasing an additional 75,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $527,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.