Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 62,299 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 377,276 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 62,299 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.31% of Expedia Group worth $106,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. CI Investments Inc. grew its stake in Expedia Group by 1,735.0% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 42,223 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $9,025,000 after acquiring an additional 39,922 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in Expedia Group by 37.3% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 196,464 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $41,994,000 after acquiring an additional 53,365 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,164,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,951,000. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,358,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 4,702 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total transaction of $1,095,566.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 105,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,569,384. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 940 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.86, for a total value of $208,548.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,454.38. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Expedia Group from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Dbs Bank raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Expedia Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.42.

Expedia Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $225.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $160.00 and a 12-month high of $303.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.20 and its 200 day moving average is $247.69.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The online travel company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 84.33% and a net margin of 9.81%.Expedia Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 17.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is presently 16.90%.

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.