Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 945,166 shares of the online travel company's stock after selling 192,342 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.74% of Expedia Group worth $176,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,303,532 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $242,887,000 after purchasing an additional 79,372 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $363,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Expedia Group by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 2,480 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 381,432 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $71,073,000 after acquiring an additional 8,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lyrical Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP now owns 1,763,489 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $328,591,000 after acquiring an additional 28,736 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $152.05. The company had a trading volume of 405,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,999,126. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $177.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group's payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on EXPE shares. HSBC raised Expedia Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.43.

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.