State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 300 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,564 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $7,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPE. Windacre Partnership LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $639,994,000 after buying an additional 1,431,500 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $481,170,000 after acquiring an additional 596,510 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $472,212,000 after acquiring an additional 20,005 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,689,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $250,078,000 after purchasing an additional 144,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $233,349,000 after purchasing an additional 498,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.64.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total value of $1,851,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at $31,198,700.75. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $190.99 on Thursday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.25 and its 200-day moving average is $170.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.