Clearbridge Investments LLC Reduces Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512,981 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 40,724 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.40% of Expedia Group worth $95,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $670,565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $472,212,000 after purchasing an additional 20,005 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,360,374 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $439,808,000 after buying an additional 150,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 732,645 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $136,514,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus upped their price target on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Expedia Group from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $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 valued at $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $168.10 on Tuesday. 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 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73. The firm has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $182.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.72.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. On average, research analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

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.