Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $168.99, but opened at $152.50. Expedia Group shares last traded at $155.18, with a volume of 116,909 shares.

The online travel company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $165.00 target price (down previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday. Benchmark cut their price target on Expedia Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,201,811 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,555,424,000 after buying an additional 394,147 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at $670,565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,228,090 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $600,750,000 after acquiring an additional 30,163 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Expedia Group by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,360,374 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $439,808,000 after acquiring an additional 150,480 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,976,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $368,276,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $161.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.62.

Expedia Group Company Profile

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.