OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New Investment in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,128 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 29,761 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $5,545,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,683 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,014 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,131 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $5,801,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 19,448 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $9,081,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $4,577,900 over the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $173.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.27. The company has a market capitalization of $22.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 0.92%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXPE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.