California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 462,341 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,890 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Hilton Worldwide worth $84,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Hilton Worldwide during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 494.9% in the third quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 95.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HLT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $190.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $210.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $204.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.68, for a total value of $4,204,967.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,536,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,338,015.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Up 3.9 %

HLT stock opened at $204.70 on Thursday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $134.43 and a 52 week high of $215.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.25.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.11. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.15% and a negative return on equity of 94.46%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.86%.

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.