StockNews.com Upgrades Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) to Strong-Buy

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on EXPE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.73.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE stock opened at $149.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $132.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.44. The company has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.79. Expedia Group has a 1-year low of $92.48 and a 1-year high of $160.05.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The online travel company reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.17 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 6.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 8.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.60, for a total value of $729,128.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 84,543 shares in the company, valued at $11,379,487.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 12,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.50, for a total transaction of $1,657,163.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 89,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,829,740. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.60, for a total transaction of $729,128.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 84,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,379,487.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,351 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Expedia Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,601 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Expedia Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,304 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.