Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Lowers Holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,688,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,277 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $47,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,056,000 after acquiring an additional 950,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the 4th quarter worth approximately $807,878,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,047,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,076,000 after purchasing an additional 643,450 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,902,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,698,000 after acquiring an additional 180,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $278,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261,877 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HST shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 1.9 %

Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $14.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.24. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.25 and a 52-week high of $20.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.51%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.