Legal & General Group Plc Sells 35,208 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Expedia stake by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 35,208 shares and ending with 916,830 shares valued at about $259.7 million.
• Expedia beat Wall Street expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $1.96 EPS versus the $1.41 estimate and revenue of $3.43 billion, up 14.7% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, while analysts currently hold a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $284.42.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 916,830 shares of the online travel company's stock after selling 35,208 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.75% of Expedia Group worth $259,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXPE. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 3,682,100 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $787,049,000 after buying an additional 309,900 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,645,732 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $779,275,000 after buying an additional 728,063 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,122,842 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $667,507,000 after buying an additional 230,176 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 24,899.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,808,466 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $386,560,000 after buying an additional 1,801,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 926,955 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $198,137,000 after buying an additional 55,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Expedia Group Stock Up 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $222.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $235.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Expedia Group, Inc. has a one year low of $160.00 and a one year high of $303.80. The company has a market cap of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.30.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last announced 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 16.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Expedia Group news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 8,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.82, for a total value of $1,816,244.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,629,633.60. This trade represents a 7.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EXPE. Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citic Securities decreased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $337.00 to $320.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $260.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $284.42.

About Expedia Group

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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