Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Stock Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 122.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,457 shares of the online travel company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Expedia Group were worth $3,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth $670,565,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Expedia Group by 326.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 293,482 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $54,685,000 after buying an additional 224,732 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 340,171 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $63,384,000 after acquiring an additional 224,182 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,360,374 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $439,808,000 after buying an additional 150,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 1,632.1% during the 4th 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. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:EXPE traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $151.15. The company had a trading volume of 2,012,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,006,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.89.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group's payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $143.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Expedia Group from $235.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Nineteen equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $190.18.

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.