Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,525 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 934.5% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,531 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 4,093 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 69,596 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $12,968,000 after purchasing an additional 20,925 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1,632.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 104,653 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $19,500,000 after purchasing an additional 98,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 over the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.61.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $162.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $184.92 and its 200 day moving average is $171.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

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.