Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $176.60, but opened at $171.86. Expedia Group shares last traded at $164.16, with a volume of 1,718,219 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Baird R W raised Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.61.

Expedia Group Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.38. The company has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its 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 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,744 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $5,729,000 after buying an additional 4,656 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 33.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,791,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $527,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $481,170,000 after acquiring an additional 596,510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.