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

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Expedia Group stake by 58% in the third quarter, selling 49,453 shares and retaining 35,862 shares valued at approximately $9.45 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.76% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans neutral: 18 analysts rate Expedia a Buy, 21 recommend Hold, and one recommends Sell, with an average price target of $315.24.
• Expedia reported quarterly earnings of $5.76 per share, beating estimates, while revenue rose 14% year over year to $4.32 billion. Shares opened at $291.72, and the company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 58.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,862 shares of the online travel company's stock after selling 49,453 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $9,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 272.9% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1,147.1% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 212 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 1,618.8% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 275 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Expedia Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Expedia Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.24.

Expedia Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $291.72 on Tuesday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $185.34 and a 1-year high of $342.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $35.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $292.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.11.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The online travel company reported $5.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.22 by $0.54. Expedia Group had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 87.32%. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.24 earnings per share. Expedia Group's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 17.26 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 27th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 27th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert Dzielak sold 3,003 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $945,945.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 103,829 shares in the company, valued at $32,706,135. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Jacobson sold 3,133 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.52, for a total value of $1,029,253.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,832 shares in the company, valued at $9,800,408.64. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 11,950 shares of company stock valued at $3,881,995 over the last quarter. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Expedia Group Profile

Expedia Group, Inc is an online travel company that connects travelers with a broad range of travel products and services. Its offerings include hotel and vacation-rental accommodations, flights, car rentals, cruises, activities, and travel packages. The company serves consumers through its online travel brands and also provides technology, distribution, and marketing solutions to travel suppliers and other business partners.

Expedia Group's consumer brands include Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif, ebookers, CheapTickets, Abritel, and FeWo-direkt, among others.

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