Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys 3,126 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,323 shares of the online travel company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $14,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in Expedia Group by 49.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 498,934 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 732,645 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $136,514,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Expedia Group by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 433,534 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $79,172,000 after buying an additional 57,621 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $168.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $207.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $182.46 and its 200 day moving average is $173.86.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly 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%. Research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is currently 17.68%.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXPE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.43.

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.