Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $118.73 Million in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 480,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $118,729,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 15,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 4,118 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE HLT opened at $247.35 on Friday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.86 and a 12 month high of $275.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $255.04 and a 200-day moving average of $243.35.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 13.74%. On average, analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is 9.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total value of $5,880,287.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,746,152.78. The trade was a 50.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total value of $10,928,745.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. The trade was a 34.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HLT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $265.00 to $274.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $250.61.

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.