Bristlecone Advisors LLC Raises Position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Key Points

• Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Expedia Group by 86.0%, now owning 2,971 shares valued at $499,000.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for Expedia Group, with a consensus price target of $203.00, while notable price increases range from $190.00 to $260.00.
• Expedia's recent earnings report showed revenue growth of 6.4% year-over-year and EPS of $4.24, exceeding estimates, alongside a dividend declaration of $0.40 per share.

Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 86.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,971 shares of the online travel company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC's holdings in Expedia Group were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,201,811 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $2,555,424,000 after acquiring an additional 394,147 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,976,472 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $368,276,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Expedia Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,303,532 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $242,887,000 after buying an additional 79,372 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Expedia Group by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,275,907 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $237,740,000 after buying an additional 102,949 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Expedia Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,176,669 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $219,255,000 after buying an additional 71,795 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EXPE. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $211.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Sunday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $178.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $175.00 to $168.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.44.

Expedia Group Trading Up 4.1%

NASDAQ:EXPE traded up $7.65 on Friday, hitting $195.26. 6,966,447 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,866,626. The stock has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $176.65 and a 200-day moving average of $172.67. Expedia Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.50 and a fifty-two week high of $213.00.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The online travel company reported $4.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.13 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 56.25% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid 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 0.8%. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio 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.