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

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on EXPE. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Expedia Group from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Expedia Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $204.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $316.45.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE opened at $259.16 on Friday. Expedia Group has a 1-year low of $185.34 and a 1-year high of $342.00. The stock has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $280.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The online travel company reported $9.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.85 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 97.32% and a net margin of 12.98%. Expedia Group’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 17.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.21%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $661,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,813,217.50. This trade represents a 1.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 3,133 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.52, for a total value of $1,029,253.16. Following the sale, the director owned 29,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,800,408.64. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,947 shares of company stock valued at $2,936,050 over the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 104.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,191,528 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $275,112,000 after buying an additional 607,698 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Expedia Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,190,874 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $274,948,000 after acquiring an additional 17,378 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Expedia Group by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,069,524 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $246,942,000 after acquiring an additional 125,749 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Expedia Group by 67.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 780,140 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $199,622,000 after acquiring an additional 314,984 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,203,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expedia Group Company Profile

Expedia Group, Inc is an online travel company that connects travelers with lodging, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and activities. Its consumer-facing brands include Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, which specializes in vacation rentals. The company also provides travel technology and booking services to business partners.

Founded in 1996 as a division of Microsoft, Expedia became an independent public company in 1999. It serves travelers and lodging partners in markets around the world through its websites and mobile apps.

Expedia Group is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.