Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,033 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 3,573 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $6,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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. lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $481,170,000 after buying an additional 596,510 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Expedia Group by 326.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 293,482 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $54,685,000 after acquiring an additional 224,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 have sold a total of 21,951 shares of company stock valued at $3,900,580 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of EXPE opened at $202.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $183.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.44. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on EXPE shares. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

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.