Forsta AP Fonden Has $9.69 Million Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,000 shares of the online travel company’s stock after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $9,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Expedia Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,980 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Expedia Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 489 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, GHE LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,689 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXPE has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Expedia Group from $153.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.75.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total value of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 1,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 85,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,345,000. The trade was a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,951 shares of company stock worth $3,476,610. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Up 0.4 %

EXPE stock opened at $171.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $183.77 and its 200 day moving average is $158.62. The stock has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $192.34.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The online travel company reported $5.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.42 by ($0.24). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 49.25% and a net margin of 7.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.