Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 4,858 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 187.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,454 shares of the online travel company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,858 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Expedia Group were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,149 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 4,737 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc now owns 22,135 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $4,124,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,430 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 6,292 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EXPE. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Expedia Group from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $205.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Expedia Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $165.00 price objective (down from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Expedia Group from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.35.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE traded down $0.74 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,104,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,167. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $110.20 and a 12 month high of $207.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.59.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The online travel company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.87%.

Expedia Group Company 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.