Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases New Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,311 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew 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 valued at $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 33.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,791,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at about $527,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Expedia Group by 22.5% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $481,170,000 after purchasing an additional 596,510 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXPE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upgraded Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Melius Research upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated 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. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 7.3 %

Expedia Group stock opened at $163.75 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 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, equities analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.68%.

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.