Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) Price Target Raised to $290.00

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) had its price objective raised by Raymond James from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HLT. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $265.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $246.61.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of HLT opened at $273.47 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.86. The stock has a market cap of $66.67 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $186.83 and a fifty-two week high of $274.53.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 57.01%. Equities research analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $5,880,287.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hilton Worldwide

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HLT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth $694,787,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,429,537 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,314,000 after acquiring an additional 919,424 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 33.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,234,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,624,000 after acquiring an additional 806,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,265,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,999,000 after acquiring an additional 685,023 shares in the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.