Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,386 shares of the online travel company’s stock after buying an additional 975 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $2,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new position in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Expedia Group by 676.2% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 163 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on EXPE. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $165.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $219.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $205.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $165.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.22. The company has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.62. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.25 and a fifty-two week high of $207.73. 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 (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The online travel company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.87%.

About Expedia Group

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.