Wright Investors Service Inc. Takes Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Wright Investors Service Inc. purchased a new stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,193 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EXPE. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in Expedia Group by 16,350.4% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 22,537 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $3,421,000 after acquiring an additional 22,400 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. LifePlan Financial LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $566,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $494,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,229,000. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $128.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $134.42 and a 200-day moving average of $132.52. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $87.94 and a one year high of $160.05.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The online travel company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 6.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EXPE shares. Ascendiant Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $133.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $155.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $1,500,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,486,810.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $702,377.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,844.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $1,500,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,521 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,486,810.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.07% 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.