Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on EXPE. Benchmark cut their price target on Expedia Group from $310.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $281.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.65.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $236.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $240.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.35. The company has a market cap of $29.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41. Expedia Group has a twelve month low of $130.01 and a twelve month high of $303.80.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The online travel company reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 72.23% and a net margin of 8.78%.The business’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 8,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.82, for a total value of $1,816,244.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,629,633.60. This trade represents a 7.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. CI Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1,735.0% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 42,223 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $9,025,000 after acquiring an additional 39,922 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,063,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,001,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its position in Expedia Group by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 115,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $24,624,000 after purchasing an additional 18,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $8,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group (NASDAQ: EXPE) is a global travel technology company that operates an online marketplace connecting consumers, travel suppliers and third‑party partners. The company’s platform enables search, comparison and booking of travel products and services, including hotels, airline tickets, vacation rentals, car rentals, cruises and packaged travel. Its portfolio comprises consumer-facing travel brands as well as corporate travel solutions and technology services that serve both leisure and business travelers.

Key offerings include consumer booking platforms and mobile apps that aggregate inventory from hotels, vacation rental managers, airlines and car rental companies, alongside ancillary travel services such as trip insurance and activities.