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

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EXPE. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Expedia Group from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Argus raised their target price on Expedia Group from $270.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Expedia Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $370.00 price target on Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.88.

Expedia Group Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $314.01 on Friday. Expedia Group has a 52-week low of $185.34 and a 52-week high of $331.31. The stock has a market cap of $38.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $262.55 and a 200-day moving average of $244.49.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The online travel company reported $5.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.22 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 87.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 17.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.97%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 4,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total value of $1,095,566.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 105,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,569,384. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 940 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.86, for a total value of $208,548.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,454.38. This represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 567 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.