Melius Upgrades Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) to “Buy”

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $220.00 price objective on the online travel company’s stock. Melius’ target price indicates a potential upside of 20.66% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Expedia Group from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $135.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Expedia Group from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.63.

Expedia Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Expedia Group stock opened at $182.33 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. Expedia Group has a 1-year low of $107.25 and a 1-year high of $192.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.85. The company has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.83.

Insider Transactions at Expedia Group

In other Expedia Group news, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,035,922.13. This represents a 38.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.87, for a total value of $1,568,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 188,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,570,779.35. This trade represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,045,310 in the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXPE. Windacre Partnership LLC grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 4,323,700 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $639,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431,500 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Expedia Group by 36.8% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,654,200 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $334,403,000 after purchasing an additional 714,229 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Expedia Group by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,576,472 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $233,349,000 after buying an additional 498,934 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 1,649.4% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 407,605 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $51,354,000 after buying an additional 384,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Expedia Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,183,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.76% of the company’s stock.

Expedia Group Company Profile

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.