Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Takes $436,000 Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,354 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the third quarter worth $245,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Expedia Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 9,802 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,855 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 57,409 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $8,498,000 after acquiring an additional 23,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the third quarter worth approximately $383,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Expedia Group in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Nineteen 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, Expedia Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 over the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of EXPE opened at $176.86 on Wednesday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $183.50 and its 200 day moving average is $173.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (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 52.41%. Sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

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.