Equity Investment Corp Buys Shares of 2,255 Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Equity Investment Corp bought a new stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,255 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 78.6% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 103.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 161 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 970.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 182 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $303.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial cut their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $345.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Citic Securities cut their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $337.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Sixteen 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 an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.42.

Expedia Group Stock Up 2.6%

EXPE opened at $224.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.35. The company has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.25. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.00 and a 1 year high of $303.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

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

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 16.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Expedia Group Company 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.