O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 22,948 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,130 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 22,948 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC owned 0.12% of Expedia Group worth $28,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 31.0% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,141 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Expedia Group by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 22,579 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,203 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EXPE. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $168.10 on Friday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.15.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.68%.

About Expedia Group

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.