Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the online travel company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.04% from the stock's current price.

EXPE has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised shares of Expedia Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Baird R W raised shares of Expedia Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Expedia Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $175.64.

Expedia Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $181.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,097,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,856. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.83. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $183.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.98. Expedia Group has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $192.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total value of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. This trade represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,045,310. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1.0% during the third 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 period. Finally, Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 25,499 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $4,751,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.