Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Price Target to $311.00

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $315.00 to $311.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the online travel company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $256.00 to $253.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Expedia Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. UBS Group set a $266.00 target price on shares of Expedia Group in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Expedia Group from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Expedia Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.65.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $225.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.64. Expedia Group has a 52-week low of $130.01 and a 52-week high of $303.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.49%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 8,225 shares of the 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 directly owned 102,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,629,633.60. This represents a 7.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Expedia Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Windacre Partnership LLC increased its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 3,682,100 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $787,049,000 after purchasing an additional 309,900 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 25.0% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,645,732 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $779,275,000 after buying an additional 728,063 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 8.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,122,842 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $667,507,000 after buying an additional 230,176 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth about $861,979,000. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 4.2% during the second quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,475,276 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $417,530,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.