Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-three brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $191.43.

A number of research firms have issued reports on EXPE. Wells Fargo & Company set a $143.00 target price on Expedia Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,005,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the first quarter worth approximately $67,000. Retireful LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the first quarter worth approximately $1,149,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,517,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Expedia Group by 187.1% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,454 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after buying an additional 4,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE opened at $150.53 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $177.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.02. Expedia Group has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.68%.

Expedia Group Company 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.