Wealthspire Advisors LLC Invests $229,000 in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,227 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EXPE. SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Expedia Group by 709.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Price Performance

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $193.55 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.25 and a 12-month high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. Analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

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.