Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Position in Expedia Group, Inc. $EXPE

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd has acquired a new position in Expedia Group, buying 9,698 shares valued at approximately $1.648 million during the first quarter.
• Expedia Group reported earnings of $4.24 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $3.79 billion, a 6.4% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, translating to an annual yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 19.61%.

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,698 shares of the online travel company's stock, valued at approximately $1,648,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,545 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $9,169,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in Expedia Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Expedia Group by 27.6% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the online travel company's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Expedia Group during the first quarter worth $473,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Expedia Group in the first quarter valued at $567,000. 90.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EXPE. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Expedia Group from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Expedia Group from $175.00 to $168.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $205.63.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EXPE opened at $215.49 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.62. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.46 and a 52 week high of $219.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The online travel company reported $4.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.13 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Expedia Group had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 56.25%. Expedia Group's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.51 earnings per share. Expedia Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Expedia Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.61%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Craig A. Jacobson sold 3,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.78, for a total value of $623,340.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,035,015.24. The trade was a 8.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 3,306 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.84, for a total value of $663,977.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 77,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,479,743. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,816 shares of company stock worth $2,009,132. 9.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.