Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nineteen 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. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $202.38 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $183.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Expedia Group has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $207.73. The firm has a market cap of $25.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 55.42%. On average, analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 10.75 EPS 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,345,000. The trade was a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,951 shares of company stock worth $3,900,580 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group by 1,353.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 24.9% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,103 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 296.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.