Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock Price

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its price target boosted by Oppenheimer from $210.00 to $235.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the online travel company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on EXPE. UBS Group raised their price target on Expedia Group from $137.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Trading Up 17.3 %

NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $202.37 on Friday. Expedia Group has a 52-week low of $107.25 and a 52-week high of $205.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.92. The company has a market capitalization of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 49.25% and a net margin of 7.97%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Expedia Group will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares in the company, valued at $31,198,700.75. This trade represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $351,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 85,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,345,000. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 709.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

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.