MONECO Advisors LLC Purchases 61 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 979 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Hilton Worldwide by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in Hilton Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth $8,453,000. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in Hilton Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth $4,412,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hilton Worldwide by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in Hilton Worldwide by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 1,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HLT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Macquarie increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $263.00 target price (up from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.56.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of HLT stock opened at $257.92 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $253.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.87. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.86 and a 12 month high of $275.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

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

Hilton Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $5,880,287.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % 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. Also, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total value of $10,928,745.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. This trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

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.