Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Price Target Raised to $199.00

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $168.00 to $199.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the online travel company’s stock.

EXPE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Expedia Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Stock Up 17.3 %

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $202.37 on Friday. Expedia Group has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $205.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $182.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.59.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 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 55.42%. On average, analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. 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 payout ratio is 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,035,922.13. The trade was a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Expedia Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.