Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 1,070,319 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ decreased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,936,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,070,319 shares during the quarter. Host Hotels & Resorts accounts for approximately 0.6% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $141,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HST. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth $181,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 120,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares during the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC grew its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 14,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,899,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261,877 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,353,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,719,000 after purchasing an additional 537,411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Compass Point lowered shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday. Raymond James decreased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.21.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 1.5 %

Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $15.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 2.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.43. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.00 and a 1 year high of $21.27. The stock has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 1.30.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. On average, equities analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.81%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.