WT Wealth Management Raises Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

WT Wealth Management raised its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,938 shares of the online travel company’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the quarter. WT Wealth Management’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $2,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,520 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, GHE LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,689 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 in the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXPE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $199.54 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $186.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.80. The company has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. 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.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.68%.

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.