Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $165.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the online travel company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $202.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Expedia Group has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.87.

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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $670,565,000. Windacre Partnership LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $639,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% in 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 last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 46.3% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $233,349,000 after purchasing an additional 498,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 326.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.