Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) Given New $268.00 Price Target at Barclays

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) had its target price raised by Barclays from $243.00 to $268.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 5.57% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $232.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $232.65.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

HLT traded down $2.03 on Friday, reaching $253.87. The company had a trading volume of 152,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,534,288. The company’s fifty day moving average is $244.57 and its 200 day moving average is $225.09. The stock has a market cap of $61.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30. Hilton Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $175.80 and a fifty-two week high of $259.01.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total transaction of $3,384,375.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,423.09. This trade represents a 38.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HLT. FMR LLC raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 2.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,215,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,585,148,000 after buying an additional 226,223 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,756,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,537 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,754,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,676 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,090,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,069,000 after purchasing an additional 121,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 worth $745,624,000 after purchasing an additional 806,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.90% 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.