Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $225.81, but opened at $235.18. Jefferies Financial Group now has a $300.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $240.00. Expedia Group shares last traded at $227.1890, with a volume of 240,806 shares.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on EXPE. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Expedia Group from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Expedia Group from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $303.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Expedia Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.77.

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 that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.82, for a total value of $1,816,244.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 102,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,629,633.60. This trade represents a 7.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CI Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Expedia Group by 1,735.0% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 42,223 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $9,025,000 after purchasing an additional 39,922 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,063,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,001,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 115,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $24,624,000 after buying an additional 18,900 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 39,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $8,486,000 after buying an additional 4,853 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $234.77 and a 200 day moving average of $244.86. The firm has a market cap of $27.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The online travel company reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 72.23% and a net margin of 8.78%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.49%.

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.