Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,408 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the second quarter worth $663,882,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 24,899.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,808,466 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $386,560,000 after buying an additional 1,801,232 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 102.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,917,669 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $492,152,000 after buying an additional 1,473,386 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 465.6% during the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 452,867 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $96,800,000 after buying an additional 372,798 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 1,933.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 357,635 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $76,444,000 after buying an additional 340,050 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $235.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $28.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.21. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.01 and a fifty-two week high of $303.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The online travel company reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.46. The company 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%. Expedia Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is presently 19.49%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 8,225 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.82, for a total value of $1,816,244.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 102,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,629,633.60. The trade was a 7.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EXPE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Expedia Group from $303.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho cut their price target on Expedia Group from $270.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $281.65.

Expedia Group Profile

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.