Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Acquires New Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 700 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EXPE. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 2.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 9,802 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,855 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Expedia Group by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $494,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EXPE shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.43.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $173.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.76. The company has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73. 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 (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.