Heron Bay Capital Management Boosts Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Heron Bay Capital Management grew its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,009 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Heron Bay Capital Management’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPE. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted 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 worth $639,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $472,212,000 after buying an additional 20,005 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 9.4% during 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. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 46.3% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $233,349,000 after buying an additional 498,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 732,645 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $136,514,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EXPE. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Argus upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.43.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $173.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.68 and a 200-day moving average of $172.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. 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 twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73.

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 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

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.