Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 1,514 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,514 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $4,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HLT. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,628,000 after purchasing an additional 7,583 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide during the third quarter worth about $38,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Hilton Worldwide by 201.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 181,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,853,000 after buying an additional 121,322 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 321,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,185,000 after acquiring an additional 31,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its position in Hilton Worldwide by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 193,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,121,000 after acquiring an additional 9,993 shares during the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $235.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $232.65.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of HLT stock opened at $252.78 on Friday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.80 and a 12-month high of $259.01. The company has a market capitalization of $61.62 billion, a PE ratio of 54.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $244.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.44.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is 12.88%.

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total transaction of $3,384,375.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,423.09. This trade represents a 38.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.