Westpac Banking Corp Has $172,000 Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 89.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 924 shares of the online travel company’s stock after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EXPE. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in 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 buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 25,499 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $4,751,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in Expedia Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,149 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Diametric Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 4,737 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $141.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.78.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Expedia Group from $235.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Expedia Group 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.