Candriam S.C.A. Increases Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 144.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,650 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,802 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $8,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPE. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $6,114,000 after acquiring an additional 4,011 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.6% in 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 last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $217,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 31.1% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 474,753 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $70,273,000 after purchasing an additional 112,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 33.6% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of Expedia Group 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. 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 company has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % 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 worth $4,577,900 in the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on EXPE shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Baird R W raised Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.64.

Expedia Group 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.