Arizona State Retirement System Has $6.74 Million Stock Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,193 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $6,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 11.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,606 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $6,114,000 after buying an additional 4,011 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Expedia Group by 2.6% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 49,521 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $7,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in Expedia Group by 31.1% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 474,753 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $70,273,000 after acquiring an additional 112,610 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Melius upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total value of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 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 directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $184.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $187.09 and a 200-day moving average of $170.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.25 and a 12-month high of $207.73. The firm has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.