Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Trading Up 8.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s stock price traded up 8.7% on Friday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $180.00. Wedbush currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Expedia Group traded as high as $190.40 and last traded at $189.24. 1,524,780 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 2,169,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.13.

EXPE has been the topic of a number of other reports. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $144.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 12,602 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.50, for a total value of $1,657,163.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,960 shares in the company, valued at $11,829,740. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Expedia Group 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 89,960 shares in the company, valued at $11,829,740. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $1,502,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 208,505 shares in the company, valued at $31,319,536.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,019 shares of company stock valued at $6,958,891. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new position in Expedia Group during the second quarter valued at about $465,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $4,562,000 after purchasing an additional 4,449 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 18.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 154,867 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $21,333,000 after purchasing an additional 23,939 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 169,076 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $21,302,000 after purchasing an additional 8,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Expedia Group by 13.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $96,171,000 after purchasing an additional 75,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $148.31 and a 200 day moving average of $132.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.78.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 6.09% and a return on equity of 47.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 8.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.