Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Downgraded by Piper Sandler to “Neutral”

Piper Sandler cut shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $145.00 price objective on the online travel company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $175.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on EXPE. Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Expedia Group from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $155.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Expedia Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $156.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $148.08.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE traded down $20.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $115.33. 13,956,064 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,820,841. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group has a 12 month low of $87.94 and a 12 month high of $160.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The online travel company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Equities research analysts expect that Expedia Group will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total value of $702,377.99. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,844.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. City State Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 193 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 173.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 344 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 335.6% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.