Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,609 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 5,592 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of Expedia Group worth $52,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Expedia Group by 16.9% in the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Expedia Group by 13.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $96,171,000 after acquiring an additional 75,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at $527,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $203.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.81. The company has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EXPE. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $190.07.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,345,000. The trade was a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

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.