Equity Investment Corp Sells 37,787 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Equity Investment Corp lowered its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 538,249 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 37,787 shares during the period. Expedia Group accounts for about 2.4% of Equity Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Equity Investment Corp owned about 0.42% of Expedia Group worth $100,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EXPE. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 49.5% during the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $639,994,000 after buying an additional 1,431,500 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,250,710 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $481,170,000 after acquiring an additional 596,510 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 498,934 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 326.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 293,482 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $54,685,000 after purchasing an additional 224,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 9.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,689,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $250,078,000 after purchasing an additional 144,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $199.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $186.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.80. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EXPE. HSBC upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Melius raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Nineteen investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % 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 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.