Susquehanna Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its target price raised by Susquehanna from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the online travel company’s stock.

EXPE has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $202.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Expedia Group has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $183.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.87. The firm has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. Sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $15,345,000. This represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,951 shares of company stock worth $3,900,580 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Windacre Partnership LLC increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $639,994,000 after buying an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $670,565,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $481,170,000 after purchasing an additional 596,510 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,228,090 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $600,750,000 after purchasing an additional 30,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,360,374 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $439,808,000 after purchasing an additional 150,480 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.