Meitav Investment House Ltd. Decreases Stake in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. sharply reduced its Expedia stake by 83.7% in the first quarter, selling 4,628 shares and ending with 898 shares valued at about $207,000.
• Expedia reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.96 beating estimates and revenue of $3.43 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 14.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a Hold consensus rating, though several firms raised price targets, and Expedia also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. cut its position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) by 83.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 898 shares of the online travel company's stock after selling 4,628 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in Expedia Group were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Expedia Group in the fourth quarter worth $408,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,455 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,265 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $3,587,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 11,042 shares of the online travel company's stock valued at $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXPE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $270.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Expedia Group from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Expedia Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $286.27.

Expedia Group Price Performance

EXPE opened at $269.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $236.81 and a 200 day moving average of $245.63. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.05 and a 52-week high of $303.80. The stock has a market cap of $33.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 4,702 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 105,448 shares in the company, valued at $24,569,384. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 940 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.86, for a total transaction of $208,548.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,124,454.38. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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