Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Stock Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,116 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $4,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Windacre Partnership LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $639,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,500 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,197,927 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $472,212,000 after purchasing an additional 20,005 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,689,485 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $250,078,000 after purchasing an additional 144,579 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $233,349,000 after purchasing an additional 498,934 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Expedia Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 732,645 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $136,514,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EXPE shares. Melius raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.43.

Expedia Group Price Performance

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $173.81 on Friday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $107.25 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The stock has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $183.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.80% 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.