Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. $HLT Shares Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 1,381.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,059 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,570 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $5,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,463,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,606,172,000 after buying an additional 151,984 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,100,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,880 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,595,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,555,721,000 after purchasing an additional 86,689 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,281,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,666,246,000 after buying an additional 172,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Hilton Worldwide by 4.0% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,442,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,449,599,000 after buying an additional 208,708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 114,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.47, for a total value of $36,283,328.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,570,194.15. This trade represents a 75.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HLT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $255.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $312.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $266.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $338.00 to $373.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.32.

Hilton Worldwide News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Hilton Worldwide this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $360 and maintained a Buy rating—this is the largest upward reassessment among brokers and supports upside to the stock. UBS price-target raise to $360
• Positive Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein increased its price target to $322, a smaller but still constructive revision that reinforces analyst optimism. Bernstein raises price target to $322
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~13.1% in February (to ~5.08M shares), reducing potential short‑squeeze risk and removing some downward pressure on the stock—shorts now represent about 2.3% of float with ~2.0 days to cover.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks raised a few quarterly estimates (notably Q1 2026 to $1.91 and parts of 2027 such as Q2/Q3 2027), which is a modest positive for near‑term cadence but mixed within a broader set of cuts.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut full‑year FY2026 EPS guidance (to $8.77 from $9.04) and trimmed several 2026/2027 quarter estimates (including Q3 2026 and Q4 2026), signaling downward revision risk to near‑term profitability expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha published a valuation critique arguing Hilton’s rally has overstayed its one‑year high, which may prompt profit‑taking from investors who view the shares as richly valued. Seeking Alpha: Valuation critique

Hilton Worldwide Trading Up 0.2%

HLT stock opened at $313.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $71.88 billion, a PE ratio of 51.23, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.13. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $196.04 and a 1 year high of $333.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.07.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.06. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 40.24% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Hilton Worldwide has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.490-8.610 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.970 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 9.80%.

About Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc is a global hospitality company that develops, owns, manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. Its business spans full-service luxury and lifestyle properties, select- and focused-service hotels, and extended-stay accommodations. The company generates revenue through management and franchise fees, owned and leased real estate, and guest services, and supports customer retention and direct bookings through its Hilton Honors guest loyalty program.

Hilton’s brand portfolio includes internationally recognized names across the lodging spectrum, from luxury and upper-upscale brands to midscale and extended-stay offerings.