Mariner LLC Purchases 224,593 Shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)

Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) by 821.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251,940 shares of the online travel company’s stock after purchasing an additional 224,593 shares during the period. Mariner LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Expedia Group worth $46,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,460 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 11,508 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Expedia Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 82,626 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $12,230,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Expedia Group by 16.3% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 216,685 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $32,074,000 after purchasing an additional 30,396 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Expedia Group by 6.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 9,124 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Robert J. Dzielak sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.70, for a total transaction of $1,028,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,325,061.40. This represents a 6.29 % 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, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $1,697,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 158,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,912,563.95. The trade was a 5.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Melius upgraded shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Expedia Group from $166.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $143.00 target price on Expedia Group and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Melius Research raised Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.43.

Expedia Group Stock Performance

Shares of EXPE stock opened at $151.59 on Wednesday. Expedia Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $207.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $176.64 and a 200-day moving average of $175.04.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 52.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Expedia Group, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s payout ratio is 17.68%.

Expedia Group 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.