Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Purchased by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 400.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 395 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $66,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 25.5% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,367 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the first quarter worth about $433,000. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new stake in Expedia Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $699,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.35.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE opened at $161.99 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $162.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.41. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.20 and a 12-month high of $207.73. The firm has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.60% and a net margin of 8.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.87%.

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.