The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Price Target to $236.00

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its price target increased by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $208.00 to $236.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the online travel company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 30.97% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on EXPE. Melius upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.00.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE stock opened at $180.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $183.17 and a 200 day moving average of $153.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $192.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total value of $1,273,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,045,310. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 709.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at $51,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Expedia Group by 299.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 559 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the third quarter worth about $118,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.