Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases Shares of 2,248 Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,248 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPE. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,608 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,298 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the third quarter worth approximately $118,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 709.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter worth approximately $736,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $176.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. 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 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $186.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.27.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EXPE. HSBC upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.64.

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.