Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its Expedia Group stake by 11% in Q1, selling 10,393 shares and leaving it with 84,332 shares valued at about $19.5 million.
• Expedia reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $1.96 topping estimates by $0.55 and revenue of $3.43 billion beating expectations, while revenue rose 14.7% year over year.
• Despite the earnings beat, Wall Street remains cautious: analysts currently have a consensus rating of “Hold” on EXPE, with an average target price of $284.42.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,332 shares of the online travel company's stock after selling 10,393 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.07% of Expedia Group worth $19,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $861,979,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 24,899.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,808,466 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $386,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,232 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Expedia Group by 25.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,645,732 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $779,275,000 after purchasing an additional 728,063 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 594.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 583,830 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $165,405,000 after buying an additional 499,706 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,286,093 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $364,363,000 after buying an additional 456,176 shares during the period. 90.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EXPE shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $290.00 target price on Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Expedia Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.42.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE stock opened at $263.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.25. Expedia Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $166.22 and a twelve month high of $303.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The online travel company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.55. Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 84.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Expedia Group's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 28th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Expedia Group's payout ratio is 16.90%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 4,702 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total value of $1,095,566.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 105,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,569,384. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 940 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.86, for a total value of $208,548.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,124,454.38. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Expedia Group Company Profile

Expedia Group NASDAQ: EXPE is a global travel technology company that operates an online marketplace connecting consumers, travel suppliers and third‑party partners. The company's platform enables search, comparison and booking of travel products and services, including hotels, airline tickets, vacation rentals, car rentals, cruises and packaged travel. Its portfolio comprises consumer-facing travel brands as well as corporate travel solutions and technology services that serve both leisure and business travelers.

Key offerings include consumer booking platforms and mobile apps that aggregate inventory from hotels, vacation rental managers, airlines and car rental companies, alongside ancillary travel services such as trip insurance and activities.

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