National Pension Service Raises Stock Position in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 0.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 232,717 shares of the online travel company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $39,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 114.3% during the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 150 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EXPE shares. KeyCorp began coverage on Expedia Group in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $280.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Expedia Group from $205.00 to $250.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.78, for a total transaction of $623,340.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,035,015.24. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.88, for a total value of $175,409.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,477,971.68. This trade represents a 6.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,852 shares of company stock worth $1,613,400 in the last ninety days. 9.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Expedia Group Stock Down 1.0%

EXPE stock opened at $264.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.87 and a 200-day moving average of $195.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $130.01 and a one year high of $279.61.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The online travel company reported $7.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.10 by $0.47. Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 56.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Expedia Group has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 15.31%.

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.