Citigroup Cuts Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Price Target to $225.00

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its target price reduced by Citigroup from $281.00 to $225.00 in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the online travel company’s stock.

EXPE has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Expedia Group from $329.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 13th. CICC Research upgraded Expedia Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $271.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Expedia Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.55.

Expedia Group Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $203.48 on Friday. Expedia Group has a one year low of $130.01 and a one year high of $303.80. The company has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $266.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.60.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The online travel company reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 72.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Expedia Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 16.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Madhumita Moina Banerjee sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.00, for a total value of $258,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,916 shares in the company, valued at $752,328. This represents a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 9.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 107,973 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $18,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,063,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,001,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 19.6% during the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 115,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $24,624,000 after purchasing an additional 18,900 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 13.9% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $8,486,000 after purchasing an additional 4,853 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group (NASDAQ: EXPE) is a global travel technology company that operates an online marketplace connecting consumers, travel suppliers and third‑party partners. The company’s platform enables search, comparison and booking of travel products and services, including hotels, airline tickets, vacation rentals, car rentals, cruises and packaged travel. Its portfolio comprises consumer-facing travel brands as well as corporate travel solutions and technology services that serve both leisure and business travelers.

Key offerings include consumer booking platforms and mobile apps that aggregate inventory from hotels, vacation rental managers, airlines and car rental companies, alongside ancillary travel services such as trip insurance and activities.