Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Invests $213,000 in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,405 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 115.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 39,314 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $5,967,000 after buying an additional 21,095 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 263,351 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $39,974,000 after purchasing an additional 15,759 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Expedia Group by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 355,871 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $54,018,000 after purchasing an additional 43,820 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 769,665 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $79,329,000 after purchasing an additional 56,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 20.7% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 80,577 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $8,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,797 shares during the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Expedia Group Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EXPE opened at $135.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.94 and a 1 year high of $160.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.64.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The online travel company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Expedia Group had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 6.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total value of $702,377.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,844.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 5,119 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.21, for a total transaction of $702,377.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,880 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,844.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $1,500,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,521 shares in the company, valued at $32,486,810.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXPE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Expedia Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Expedia Group from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Expedia Group in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $181.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research increased their price target on Expedia Group from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 27th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Expedia Group from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.12.

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.