Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 4,656 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,744 shares of the online travel company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,656 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Expedia Group were worth $5,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 338.5% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 30,584 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $5,699,000 after acquiring an additional 23,609 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,316 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $634,000. GAM Holding AG grew its position in Expedia Group by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 17,077 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 391.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expedia Group Trading Down 3.0 %

EXPE traded down $5.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $193.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,443,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,880,330. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The stock has a market cap of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.80.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from Expedia Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group's payout ratio is presently 17.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EXPE. Baird R W upgraded Expedia Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $168.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Expedia Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $192.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at $15,325,061.40. This 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 in the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.