Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,236 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 3,363 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $8,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 47,258 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $12,414,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $146,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 180.1% during the 3rd quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 33,734 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $8,884,000 after acquiring an additional 21,689 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,260,000. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,179 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, CAO Lance Soliday sold 2,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.65, for a total value of $909,456.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,006 shares in the company, valued at $3,885,741.90. This represents a 18.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Jacobson sold 3,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.52, for a total transaction of $1,029,253.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,800,408.64. The trade was a 9.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,950 shares of company stock worth $3,881,995 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Expedia Group stock opened at $288.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $185.34 and a 1 year high of $342.00. The company has a market cap of $34.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $292.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.41.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The online travel company reported $5.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.22 by $0.54. Expedia Group had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 87.32%. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 17.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 27th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 27th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EXPE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $325.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $334.00 to $417.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.24.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc is an online travel company that connects travelers with a broad range of travel products and services. Its platforms support the search, comparison and booking of lodging, air travel, car rentals, cruises, vacation packages, activities and other travel-related offerings.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Orbitz, Wotif and ebookers. Through these brands, Expedia Group serves individual travelers, property owners, travel suppliers and business partners across markets in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international regions.

Expedia Group traces its origins to Expedia, which was established within Microsoft in 1996 and became an independent public company in 1999.