Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 224,182 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 193.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340,171 shares of the online travel company’s stock after acquiring an additional 224,182 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Expedia Group were worth $63,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth $51,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $172.48 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.26. The firm has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released 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 return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. Analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. 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 presently 17.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EXPE. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Expedia Group from $235.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.43.

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.