Raymond James & Associates Acquires 5,877 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 272,398 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,877 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.11% of Hilton Worldwide worth $49,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the third quarter worth $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the third quarter worth $31,000. Bartlett & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the third quarter worth $33,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC raised its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 115.4% in the first quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 224 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In related news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.68, for a total value of $4,204,967.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,536,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,338,015.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on HLT. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $190.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.78.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

Hilton Worldwide stock opened at $214.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.05 billion, a PE ratio of 49.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $199.10 and its 200-day moving average is $176.34. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.64 and a fifty-two week high of $215.14.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.15% and a negative return on equity of 94.46%. Hilton Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.86%.

About Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, a hospitality company, engages in managing, franchising, owning, and leasing hotels and resorts. It operates through two segments, Management and Franchise, and Ownership. The company engages in the hotel management and licensing of its brands. It operates luxury hotels under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, and Conrad Hotels & Resorts brand; lifestyle hotels under the Canopy by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Tempo by Hilton, and Motto by Hilton brand; full service hotels under the Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton brand; service hotels under the Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, and Tru by Hilton brand; all-suite hotels under the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Home2 Suites by Hilton brand; and economy hotel under the Spark by Hilton brand, as well as Hilton Grand Vacations.