Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 71,588 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,604,888 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,588 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $28,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 606,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,668,000 after purchasing an additional 113,761 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 123.4% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 65,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 36,278 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter valued at about $540,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the 4th quarter worth about $375,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts during the 4th quarter worth about $1,457,000. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 1.8 %

Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $14.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 2.90. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.15 and a fifty-two week high of $20.85.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Compass Point cut shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.54.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.