BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Trims Stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lowered its stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,724 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,422 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $9,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 337.6% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 14,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,137,000 after buying an additional 11,092 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 201.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 181,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,853,000 after buying an additional 121,322 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,628,000 after buying an additional 7,583 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 321,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,185,000 after buying an additional 31,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 271.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 4,574 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Macquarie increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $232.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $228.71.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of HLT stock opened at $253.44 on Monday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $165.25 and a 52-week high of $255.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.78 billion, a PE ratio of 54.39, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.23.

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

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

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

Hilton Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hilton Worldwide 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.