Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Expedia Group's stock reached a new 52-week high of $219.51, indicating a positive trend in the company's market performance.
• Analyst ratings for Expedia Group show strong confidence, with several brokerages raising their price targets, including Bank of America to $240 and Benchmark to $265, both maintaining a "buy" rating.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.24, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.40 per share with a yield of 0.7%.

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $219.51 and last traded at $219.11, with a volume of 311181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $215.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on EXPE. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Expedia Group from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $177.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $175.00 to $168.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $205.63.

Expedia Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The business's fifty day moving average price is $198.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.86.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The online travel company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.13 by $0.11. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 56.25% and a net margin of 7.94%.The company had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.51 EPS. Expedia Group's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Expedia Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.78, for a total transaction of $623,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,035,015.24. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 852 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.88, for a total transaction of $175,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,477,971.68. This represents a 6.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,816 shares of company stock worth $2,009,132 in the last ninety days. 9.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Expedia Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXPE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $663,882,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 102.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,917,669 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $492,152,000 after buying an additional 1,473,386 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Expedia Group in the first quarter worth about $227,174,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Expedia Group by 3,369.4% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,029,117 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $172,995,000 after acquiring an additional 999,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 497.0% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 871,837 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $147,061,000 after acquiring an additional 725,797 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Expedia Group Company 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.