Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires New Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 92,268 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,192,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Melius upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $143.00 price objective on Expedia Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Nineteen equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Expedia Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $157.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.35. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.25 and a 12-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 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.