Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Receives $193.61 Average Price Target from Analysts

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $193.43.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Argus lifted 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 51.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,608 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 6,298 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Expedia Group by 709.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $736,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 285,201 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $42,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,784 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Expedia Group stock opened at $173.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.27. Expedia Group has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. Research analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

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.