Norges Bank Takes Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,598,805 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,565,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 9,802 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Expedia Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,310 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,562,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Expedia Group by 141.7% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 19,936 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after buying an additional 11,687 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the 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. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $169.07 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. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $182.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.61. The company has a market cap of $21.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EXPE. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.43.

About Expedia Group

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.