Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Climb 11.4% – Here’s What Happened

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s share price traded up 11.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $318.65 and last traded at $318.4440. 518,845 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,985,196 shares. The stock had previously closed at $285.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on EXPE shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Melius Research set a $355.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $309.00 to $288.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $312.61.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of $38.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.39.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The online travel company reported $5.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.17 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 87.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 17.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert Dzielak sold 3,003 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $945,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 103,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,706,135. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance Soliday sold 2,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.65, for a total transaction of $909,456.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,006 shares in the company, valued at $3,885,741.90. The trade was a 18.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 11,950 shares of company stock worth $3,881,995 in the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Expedia Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 5,270 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Investment Research Partners LLC now owns 2,205 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 4,389 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.7% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,994 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc is an online travel company that connects travelers with a broad range of travel products and services. Its offerings include hotel and vacation-rental accommodations, flights, car rentals, cruises, activities, and travel packages. The company serves consumers through its online travel brands and also provides technology, distribution, and marketing solutions to travel suppliers and other business partners.

Expedia Group’s consumer brands include Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif, ebookers, CheapTickets, Abritel, and FeWo-direkt, among others.