Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Trims Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,489 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Expedia Group by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,744 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 33.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 16.9% during the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $4,562,000 after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 13.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $96,171,000 after buying an additional 75,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 2.3 %

Expedia Group stock opened at $197.96 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.47.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its 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 return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EXPE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised their price target on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group 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 approximately $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group 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 owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 over the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.