Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $37.81 Million Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 163,779 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,427 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $37,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHS Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. RHS Financial LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Expedia Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 567 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 319 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 78.6% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXPE shares. Wedbush assumed coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $334.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $260.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $288.82.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $268.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $174.05 and a twelve month high of $303.80. The company has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.78.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The online travel company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 84.33% and a net margin of 9.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 16.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 28th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 4,702 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total transaction of $1,095,566.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 105,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,569,384. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 940 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.86, for a total transaction of $208,548.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,083 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,454.38. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Profile

Expedia Group (NASDAQ: EXPE) is a global travel technology company that operates an online marketplace connecting consumers, travel suppliers and third‑party partners. The company’s platform enables search, comparison and booking of travel products and services, including hotels, airline tickets, vacation rentals, car rentals, cruises and packaged travel. Its portfolio comprises consumer-facing travel brands as well as corporate travel solutions and technology services that serve both leisure and business travelers.

Key offerings include consumer booking platforms and mobile apps that aggregate inventory from hotels, vacation rental managers, airlines and car rental companies, alongside ancillary travel services such as trip insurance and activities.