Short Interest in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Rises By 12.8%

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,850,000 shares, an increase of 12.8% from the November 30th total of 4,300,000 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,460,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on EXPE shares. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Expedia Group from $155.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.77.

Insider Activity

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total value of $1,501,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 198,505 shares in the company, valued at $29,811,480.90. This represents a 4.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at $15,345,000. This represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $4,695,610. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $639,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,654,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $334,403,000 after purchasing an additional 714,229 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Expedia Group by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $233,349,000 after purchasing an additional 498,934 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 1,649.4% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 407,605 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $51,354,000 after buying an additional 384,305 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Expedia Group during the second quarter valued at about $39,183,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $186.33. 1,067,627 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,061,318. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.75. The company has a market cap of $23.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. Expedia Group has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $192.34.

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.