HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 20,925 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,596 shares of the online travel company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,925 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Expedia Group worth $12,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 1,632.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 104,653 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $19,500,000 after buying an additional 98,611 shares in the last quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $319,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,370 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,236 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after buying an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,188 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $6,184,000 after buying an additional 4,705 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EXPE. Baird R W upgraded shares of Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Melius Research raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.61.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $162.11 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.90. The stock has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group 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.