Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,656 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at $408,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,351 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 74.7% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,992 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $9,748,000 after purchasing an additional 24,804 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 8.6% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 115,788 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $19,464,000 after purchasing an additional 9,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 192.2% in the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,837 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Expedia Group from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $211.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $280.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.31.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $257.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $229.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.21. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $130.01 and a one year high of $279.61. The firm has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The online travel company reported $7.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.10 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 56.25%. Expedia Group’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.13 earnings per share. Expedia Group has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.08, for a total transaction of $210,619.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 11,662 shares in the company, valued at $2,893,108.96. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.55, for a total transaction of $814,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,379,489.90. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.