3,598,805 Shares in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,598,805 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,565,000. Norges Bank owned 2.80% of Expedia Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $639,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares during the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Expedia Group by 46.3% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $233,349,000 after buying an additional 498,934 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Expedia Group by 326.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 293,482 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $54,685,000 after buying an additional 224,732 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 340,171 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $63,384,000 after buying an additional 224,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1,198.9% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 134,406 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after acquiring an additional 124,058 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EXPE shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Melius Research raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE opened at $169.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.61. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

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 value of $1,028,500.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.