National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 4,793 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,258 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,793 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $11,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $141.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.78. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted 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. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.43.

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.