Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,907 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 5,423 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $10,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% in the fourth 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. Signet Financial Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 25,499 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,751,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,149 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 4.3% during the third quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 transaction 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. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $167.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.25 and a 12-month high of $207.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.89.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.