Expedia Group’s (EXPE) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on EXPE. Bank of America upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna increased their target price on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Nineteen investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.93.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $202.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. Expedia Group has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $205.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results 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%. Analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 10.75 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,174,510. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 33.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 16.9% during the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $4,562,000 after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 13.1% in 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 period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $527,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.