First Horizon Advisors Inc. Purchases 536 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 68.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,316 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 536 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Hilton Worldwide by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 5.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 277.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,354,000 after buying an additional 23,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Hilton Worldwide during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

HLT stock opened at $257.92 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $253.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.87. The company has a market cap of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.86 and a fifty-two week high of $275.22.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 13.74%. Equities analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is 9.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total value 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 $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of Hilton Worldwide stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total transaction of $10,928,745.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. The trade was a 34.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HLT. Barclays boosted their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $263.00 target price (up previously from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.56.

About Hilton Worldwide

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.