Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $166.00 to $187.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the online travel company’s stock.

EXPE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Melius Research raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $187.93.

Expedia Group Stock Up 17.3 %

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $202.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $182.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.92. Expedia Group has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $205.12.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 49.25% and a net margin of 7.97%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,035,922.13. The trade was a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 676.2% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 709.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.