Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 2,331,905 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session’s volume of 1,401,153 shares.The stock last traded at $176.81 and had previously closed at $173.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.96.

Expedia Group Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $22.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $184.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.11. 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 (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The online travel company reported $5.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.42 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 49.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.85 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % 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 Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.87, for a total value of $1,568,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 188,505 shares in the company, valued at $29,570,779.35. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,045,310 in the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 709.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Expedia Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.