Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Sells 77,131 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lessened its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,674 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 77,131 shares during the period. Expedia Group comprises approximately 2.0% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. owned about 0.11% of Expedia Group worth $27,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 216,685 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $32,074,000 after acquiring an additional 30,396 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $2,958,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $246,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at $1,930,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Expedia Group by 299.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 559 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Expedia Group from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nineteen investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.89.

Insider Activity

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $161.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.01 and a 200-day moving average of $175.53. The stock has a market cap of $20.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s 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.