Banque Pictet & Cie SA Trims Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lowered its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,920 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 7,622 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA owned about 0.05% of Expedia Group worth $12,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $639,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $481,170,000 after purchasing an additional 596,510 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $233,349,000 after buying an additional 498,934 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Expedia Group by 326.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 293,482 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $54,685,000 after buying an additional 224,732 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Expedia Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,689,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $250,078,000 after buying an additional 144,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 0.3 %

EXPE stock opened at $203.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.15. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,345,000. The trade was a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,951 shares of company stock worth $3,900,580 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W raised Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

Expedia Group Company Profile

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.