Natixis Purchases 69,676 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Natixis lifted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 267,029 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,676 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $65,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth about $694,787,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,756,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,537 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,952,314,000 after buying an additional 919,424 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,265,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,999,000 after acquiring an additional 685,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 426.9% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 762,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,400,000 after purchasing an additional 617,604 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on HLT. Barclays raised their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $277.00 to $228.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.88.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Hilton Worldwide stock opened at $210.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.42 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.38. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.86 and a 12-month high of $275.22.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 13.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is 9.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. This represents a 34.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Company 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.