Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 400 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,600 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EXPE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $202.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.19.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at $15,345,000. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,951 shares of company stock valued at $3,900,580 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group 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.