Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Receives $192.64 Average Price Target from Analysts

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $192.64.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Expedia Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock.

Expedia Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $196.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $25.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. Expedia Group has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The business’s 50-day moving average is $185.40 and its 200 day moving average is $166.51.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.68%.

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 that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $670,565,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $481,170,000 after buying an additional 596,510 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,228,090 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $600,750,000 after buying an additional 30,163 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 6.8% during 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 buying an additional 150,480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.