Cannell & Spears LLC Purchases New Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Cannell & Spears LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 34,862 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,496,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% during the fourth 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 period. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Melius raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.43.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE opened at $168.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73. The firm has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.46 and its 200-day moving average is $174.47.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share 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 52.41%. Sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

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.