Banco Santander S.A. Takes $257,000 Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,378 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 1.3% in the third 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. raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 14.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group by 1.0% during the third quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,689 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXPE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Down 4.2 %

EXPE stock opened at $176.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $186.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.27. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. As a group, analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. 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. 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.