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

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at BTIG Research from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the online travel company’s stock. BTIG Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.13% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EXPE. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $159.88.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE traded up $10.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $184.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,818,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,175,263. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45. Expedia Group has a one year low of $107.25 and a one year high of $190.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.84.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The online travel company reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 6.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Expedia Group will post 8.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

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 stock was sold at an average price of $131.50, for a total value of $1,657,163.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 89,960 shares in the company, valued at $11,829,740. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,417 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.60, for a total transaction of $729,128.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,379,487.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 12,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,829,740. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,019 shares of company stock valued at $6,958,891. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Expedia Group by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,654,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $334,403,000 after buying an additional 714,229 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,054,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $132,851,000 after acquiring an additional 135,973 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 971,327 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $133,800,000 after purchasing an additional 29,294 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 817,592 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $121,020,000 after purchasing an additional 64,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Expedia Group by 414.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 686,244 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $94,512,000 after purchasing an additional 552,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.