Kazazian Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Kazazian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,528,000. Expedia Group makes up about 1.2% of Kazazian Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,744 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $5,729,000 after buying an additional 4,656 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,791,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $527,000. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. The trade was a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 in the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $165.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $184.20 and a 200-day moving average of $172.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $107.25 and a one year high of $207.73. The company has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its 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 net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded Expedia Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.43.

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.