Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Price Target Raised to $199.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $168.00 to $199.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the online travel company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $153.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.93.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

EXPE opened at $202.37 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.92. Expedia Group has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $205.12. The company has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 49.25%. Equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total value of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,035,922.13. This trade represents a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total value of $1,851,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock worth $5,174,510. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Company 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.