Stockbridge Partners LLC Buys 600,593 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 63.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,544,399 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600,593 shares during the quarter. Hilton Worldwide comprises 7.1% of Stockbridge Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Stockbridge Partners LLC owned about 0.63% of Hilton Worldwide worth $355,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 12.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,582,000 after buying an additional 2,364 shares during the period. PGGM Investments acquired a new position in Hilton Worldwide during the first quarter valued at approximately $701,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 129.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 33,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,183,000 after buying an additional 18,965 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 271.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 4,574 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Laura Fuentes sold 4,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.00, for a total value of $1,067,423.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,460,933. This trade represents a 23.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total transaction of $3,384,375.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,423.09. This represents a 38.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $232.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $185.00 to $181.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.71.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE:HLT opened at $250.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.30. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $165.25 and a one year high of $255.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.66.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.88%.

Hilton Worldwide Company Profile

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.