Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,890 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 9,492 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $8,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Expedia Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Expedia Group by 14.8% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EXPE shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday. Melius Research upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Stock Up 17.3 %

EXPE stock opened at $202.37 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $182.42 and a 200-day moving average of $160.59. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $107.25 and a one year high of $205.12.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 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 55.42%. As a group, analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,345,000. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,174,510. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.