Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $180.00 price target on the online travel company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Expedia Group from $136.00 to $128.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $148.12.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE stock opened at $122.86 on Tuesday. Expedia Group has a one year low of $92.48 and a one year high of $160.05. The firm has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.09.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The online travel company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.96) by $0.57. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 41.63%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 9.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.38, for a total value of $61,678.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,382.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 544 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.38, for a total value of $61,678.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,382.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 6,722 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.71, for a total transaction of $757,636.62. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,620 shares in the company, valued at $3,676,600.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ValueAct Holdings L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $645,346,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth $334,632,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 414.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 686,244 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $94,512,000 after purchasing an additional 552,831 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the first quarter worth $40,976,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 90.4% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 557,243 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $76,760,000 after buying an additional 264,572 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.