California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,410 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 20,276 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Expedia Group worth $41,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EXPE. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 18.4% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,141 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,579 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,203 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $294,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $372,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Expedia Group Stock Up 0.1 %

EXPE stock opened at $167.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $207.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. Research analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.68%.

Expedia Group 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.