Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 1,690 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,966 shares of the online travel company’s stock after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 199,327 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $37,093,000 after acquiring an additional 19,825 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 114,690 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $21,370,000 after purchasing an additional 11,379 shares in the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at $436,000. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 181,892 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $33,892,000 after buying an additional 4,311 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 over the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $168.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $182.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.15.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. 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 0.95%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EXPE. StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

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.