Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE Shares Sold by Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Westbourne Investment Advisors reduced its Expedia stake by 12.9%, selling 5,529 shares and finishing the quarter with 37,320 shares (≈2.9% of its portfolio) worth $10.573 million.
• Several large institutions (Wellington, AQR, Voloridge, Tidal, Windacre) materially increased positions and institutional investors now own 90.76% of EXPE; analysts' consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $282.42.
• Expedia beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $3.78 (vs. $3.32 expected) and $3.55B revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.48 (annualized $1.92, yield 0.8%).

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,320 shares of the online travel company's stock after selling 5,529 shares during the period. Expedia Group comprises approximately 2.9% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $10,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 24,899.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,808,466 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $386,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,232 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,645,732 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $779,275,000 after purchasing an additional 728,063 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 465.6% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 452,867 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $96,800,000 after acquiring an additional 372,798 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1,933.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 357,635 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $76,444,000 after acquiring an additional 340,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 9.2% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 3,682,100 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $787,049,000 after acquiring an additional 309,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EXPE. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $252.00 to $246.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Expedia Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $282.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 8,225 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.82, for a total transaction of $1,816,244.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 102,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,629,633.60. The trade was a 7.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.13% of the company's stock.

Expedia Group Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Expedia Group stock traded up $5.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $245.82. 103,222 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,546,726. The stock has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $226.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.39. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.20 and a 12-month high of $303.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The online travel company reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.41 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 72.23%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.49%.

Expedia Group 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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