AIA Group Ltd Boosts Holdings in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 14.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,461 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $5,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HLT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide during the first quarter worth approximately $353,985,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 9.7% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 93.7% in the 1st quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,318,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 6,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of HLT opened at $262.47 on Monday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.04 and a 1 year high of $279.46. The company has a market cap of $61.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $262.60 and a 200-day moving average of $248.25.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.16. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 13.84% and a negative return on equity of 46.13%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 9.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Hilton Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $228.00 to $296.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $275.00 to $245.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective (down previously from $296.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $251.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.40.

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.