Empirical Finance LLC Sells 61 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,693 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $874,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. BayBridge Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth about $470,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,304 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth about $13,853,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.07.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total value of $1,273,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. The trade was a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $203.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.81. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $107.25 and a 1 year high of $207.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $26.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS 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. 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%.

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.