Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,368 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,689 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 in the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $190.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.25 and its 200 day moving average is $170.00. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. Research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

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.