Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their neutral rating on shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $170.00 price target on the online travel company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on EXPE. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Expedia Group from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.35.

Expedia Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $166.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.62. Expedia Group has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $207.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.88.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The online travel company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.87%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Expedia Group by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,744 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $5,729,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,791,000. Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the fourth quarter valued at $319,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,003 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $11,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $238,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Expedia Group

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.