Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Stock Price

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the online travel company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 0.76% from the stock’s current price.

EXPE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $205.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Expedia Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.18.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $151.15 on Thursday. Expedia Group has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.94.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 52.41% and a net margin of 9.01%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Expedia Group will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In related news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total value of $1,028,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at $26,912,563.95. This represents a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,460 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Expedia Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 82,626 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $12,230,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Expedia Group by 16.3% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 216,685 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $32,074,000 after purchasing an additional 30,396 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 6.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,124 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the third quarter worth about $2,958,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

About Expedia Group

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.