Cigna Investments Inc. New Makes New Investment in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Cigna Investments Inc. New acquired a new stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,278 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,865 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1,353.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares in the last quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 3.0% in the third quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 91,981 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $13,615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,709 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 5.2% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,163 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $197.19 on Wednesday. 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 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $182.78 and a 200-day moving average of $161.36.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its 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 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. This trade represents a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at $15,345,000. This represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,174,510. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Melius raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.