Alerus Financial NA Takes $203,000 Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Alerus Financial NA bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,090 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SRH Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Expedia Group by 676.2% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 272 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $51,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. This trade represents a 5.60 % 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 three months. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EXPE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Expedia Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Expedia Group stock opened at $168.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $207.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. On average, analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors 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 positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 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.