Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $332.00 and last traded at $324.1070, with a volume of 416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EXPE. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $270.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $255.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty-two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $311.76.

Expedia Group Trading Down 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $39.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The online travel company reported $5.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.22 by $0.54. Expedia Group had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 87.32%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 17.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 27th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 27th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 11.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.86, for a total transaction of $208,548.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,083 shares in the company, valued at $3,124,454.38. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 4,702 shares of Expedia Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total value of $1,095,566.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 105,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,569,384. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Expedia Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Expedia Group by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 567 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 3.0% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,389 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Company Profile

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.