Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $17.35 Million Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,124 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 3,206 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Expedia Group worth $17,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 296.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,403 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,181,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 42,300 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $6,261,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EXPE shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.64.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE opened at $199.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.08. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its 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 return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. Equities analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group 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.