Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,596 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 33.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,449 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $96,171,000 after acquiring an additional 75,120 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth approximately $527,000. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the second quarter valued at about $465,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Twenty investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total value of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $351,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,345,000. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,045,310 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $176.89 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $107.25 and a one year high of $192.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $184.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.11. The company has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The online travel company reported $5.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.42 by ($0.24). Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 49.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.85 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.