Simplicity Wealth LLC Buys New Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,311 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EXPE. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,689 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EXPE. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Baird R W upgraded Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.64.

Expedia Group Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $163.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. As a group, research analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group 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.