Expedia Group’s (EXPE) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on EXPE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. BTIG Research increased their target price on Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $202.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $182.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. Expedia Group has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $205.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted 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 return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 10.75 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. This trade represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,174,510 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group by 49.5% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $639,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Expedia Group by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $481,170,000 after purchasing an additional 596,510 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $472,212,000 after buying an additional 20,005 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,689,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $250,078,000 after buying an additional 144,579 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $233,349,000 after buying an additional 498,934 shares during the last quarter. 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.