Short Interest in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Drops By 9.8%

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,730,000 shares, a decline of 9.8% from the October 15th total of 6,350,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE stock traded down $3.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $177.10. The company had a trading volume of 85,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,798. Expedia Group has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $190.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $155.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.40. The firm has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Insider Activity

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 198,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,811,480.90. The trade was a 4.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. This trade represents a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,846,530 in the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Expedia Group by 16.9% in the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,562,000 after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $96,171,000 after acquiring an additional 75,120 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $465,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Expedia Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 169,076 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $21,302,000 after acquiring an additional 8,026 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 26.6% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 42,300 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EXPE. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Expedia Group from $130.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Expedia Group from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.88.

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.