Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 975 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,386 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 676.2% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Expedia Group from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Expedia Group from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Expedia Group from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.35.

Expedia Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $165.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The company has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

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.