Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Trading Down 7.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) were down 7.2% on Monday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $281.00 to $225.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Expedia Group traded as low as $189.19 and last traded at $188.7520. Approximately 527,455 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 2,695,567 shares. The stock had previously closed at $203.48.

EXPE has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Expedia Group from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Expedia Group from $210.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Expedia Group

In other news, Director Madhumita Moina Banerjee sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.00, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $752,328. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 5,608 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Expedia Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Expedia Group during the 4th quarter worth about $3,655,000. Van Diest Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Expedia Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 2,131 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Stock Down 7.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $264.80 and its 200 day moving average is $241.61.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The online travel company reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.46. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 72.23% and a net margin of 8.78%.The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.24%.

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.