Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,077,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,409 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $79,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 21,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 57.5% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% during the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.3% during the third quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 279,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,494,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.2% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $591,981.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HST opened at $18.74 on Thursday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.92 and a 1 year high of $21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 3.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.77.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HST shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.20.

Host Hotels & Resorts Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.