Capital Research Global Investors Sells 661,719 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Capital Research Global Investors reduced its position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,290,742 shares of the company’s stock after selling 661,719 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $1,060,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 701,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,866 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA increased its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 90,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,357,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 17,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,294,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,225,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,786,151,000 after buying an additional 142,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Sarl grew its position in Hilton Worldwide by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 147,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,385,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares during the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $20,802,871.89. This represents a 34.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $265.00 to $274.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $263.00 price objective (up previously from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.88.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE HLT opened at $210.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $236.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.38. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.86 and a 1-year high of $275.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.19.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 13.74% and a negative return on equity of 54.47%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.76%.

About Hilton Worldwide

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.