Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $176.60, but opened at $171.86. Expedia Group shares last traded at $164.16, with a volume of 1,718,219 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXPE. HSBC upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Stock Down 6.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.27.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 51.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,608 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $2,754,000 after purchasing an additional 6,298 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $118,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 709.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $736,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.