Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Has $462,000 Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 57.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,480 shares of the online travel company’s stock after buying an additional 906 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 381,432 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $71,073,000 after purchasing an additional 8,912 shares during the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its position in Expedia Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,763,489 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $328,591,000 after buying an additional 28,736 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $243,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 183,513 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $34,194,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Katamaran Capital LLP bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth about $2,523,000. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $141.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $180.61 and its 200 day moving average is $175.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on EXPE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Bank of America upgraded Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.43.

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.