Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 512,981 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 40,724 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $95,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its stake in Expedia Group by 49.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $670,565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $472,212,000 after buying an additional 20,005 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Expedia Group by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,360,374 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $439,808,000 after buying an additional 150,480 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 732,645 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $136,514,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ EXPE opened at $168.10 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $182.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.72. The company has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a PEG 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. Sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,577,900 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

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.