Banco Santander S.A. Purchases Shares of 1,378 Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,378 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 709.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $176.60 on Tuesday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick 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%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. 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 yield of 0.91%. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on EXPE. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.