Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 4,087 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Legato Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,465 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 4,087 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $2,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EXPE. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 33.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Expedia Group by 16.9% in the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $4,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Expedia Group by 13.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $96,171,000 after acquiring an additional 75,120 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter worth $527,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $197.19 on Wednesday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $107.25 and a one 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 stock has a market cap of $25.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $182.78 and a 200-day moving average of $161.36.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Expedia Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction 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 represents a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This trade represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety 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 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.