Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 151,948 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 10,701 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $32,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $663,882,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 102.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,917,669 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $492,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,386 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 497.0% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 871,837 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $147,061,000 after acquiring an additional 725,797 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the second quarter worth $26,131,000. Finally, Natixis increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1,175.3% during the second quarter. Natixis now owns 166,372 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $28,064,000 after buying an additional 153,326 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Madhumita Moina Banerjee sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.00, for a total value of $258,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $752,328. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 849 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.08, for a total transaction of $210,619.92. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 11,662 shares in the company, valued at $2,893,108.96. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 4,849 shares of company stock valued at $1,283,270 over the last quarter. 9.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EXPE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Expedia Group from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $257.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Expedia Group from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Expedia Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $250.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.84.

Expedia Group Trading Down 2.2%

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $231.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.41. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $130.01 and a one year high of $303.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $238.22.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The online travel company reported $7.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.10 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 64.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.