Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 14,424 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,424 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at $38,873,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 18.7% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 3,182 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 97,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 3,601 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,460,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,478,000 after buying an additional 42,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth about $587,000. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HST opened at $19.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.92 and a 12-month high of $21.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. This is an increase from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is presently 76.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HST. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

Insider Activity at Host Hotels & Resorts

In other Host Hotels & Resorts news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $591,981.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.