Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $264.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore set a $430.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, August 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $316.79.

Expedia Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of EXPE opened at $279.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.37 and a 200 day moving average of $259.36. Expedia Group has a fifty-two week low of $185.34 and a fifty-two week high of $342.00.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The online travel company reported $5.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 87.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 17.14 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 27th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 27th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 11.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert Dzielak sold 1,004 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $336,340.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 104,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,950,885. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Jacobson sold 3,133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.52, for a total transaction of $1,029,253.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,800,408.64. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 11,950 shares of company stock worth $3,881,995 in the last three months. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 0.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Company Profile

Expedia Group, Inc is an online travel company that connects travelers with lodging, transportation, activities and other travel-related services. Its consumer brands include Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Orbitz, Wotif and ebookers. Through these platforms, customers can search for and book hotel stays, vacation rentals, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and activities.

The company also provides business-to-business travel technology and booking services through its partnerships with airlines, hotels, financial institutions, retailers and other organizations.