Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock Moved Up to "Strong-Buy" by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Expedia Group to “strong buy” from “hold.” Analyst views remain mixed overall: MarketBeat reports a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $316.
• Expedia reported quarterly EPS of $9.39, beating the $8.85 consensus, and revenue of $4.94 billion versus the $4.73 billion estimate. Revenue grew 11.9% year over year.
• Shares fell $3.08 to $257.97 on Thursday, below the 50-day moving average of $276.40.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

EXPE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Expedia Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Expedia Group in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $310.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $316.00.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE traded down $3.08 on Thursday, hitting $257.97. 1,122,308 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,153,199. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $276.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Expedia Group has a one year low of $185.34 and a one year high of $342.00. The firm has a market cap of $30.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.39.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The online travel company reported $9.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.85 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 91.03% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 17.93 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance Soliday sold 2,810 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,006 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,885,741.90. This trade represents a 18.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert Dzielak sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $661,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 105,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,813,217.50. This trade represents a 1.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,814 shares of company stock valued at $1,906,796 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,668 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 105,266 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $27,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,369 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group in the third quarter worth about $3,734,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expedia Group Company Profile

Expedia Group, Inc. is an online travel company that connects travelers with lodging, flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and activities. Its consumer-facing brands include Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, which specializes in vacation rentals. The company also provides travel technology and booking services to business partners. Founded in 1996 as a division of Microsoft, Expedia became an independent public company in 1999. It serves travelers and lodging partners in markets around the world through its websites and mobile apps.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.