Entropy Technologies LP Purchases New Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP acquired 9,177 shares of Expedia Group, Inc., valued at approximately $1,543,000, in the first quarter, reflecting growing interest from institutional investors.
• Expedia Group recently reported earnings of $4.24 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 6.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, translating to an annual yield of 0.8%, with a payout ratio of 18.87%.

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,177 shares of the online travel company's stock, valued at approximately $1,543,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 5.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE traded up $10.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $203.19. The company had a trading volume of 2,429,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,929,584. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.03. The company has a market capitalization of $25.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $126.46 and a one year high of $213.00.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The online travel company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 56.25%. Expedia Group's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Expedia Group's payout ratio is currently 19.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on EXPE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $210.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $190.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "positive" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.04.

Expedia Group 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.