Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 352,091 shares of the online travel company’s stock after selling 24,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $65,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,744 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,569 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,791,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $527,000. Finally, Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth about $319,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total value of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of Expedia Group 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 transaction, 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 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. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXPE shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Expedia Group from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.61.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $162.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $184.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.67. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.25 and a twelve month high of $207.73.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

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.