Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) Downgraded by Melius to Hold

Melius cut shares of Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on HLT. Robert W. Baird set a $235.00 target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $224.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $185.00 to $181.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $205.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.42.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Hilton Worldwide stock opened at $233.53 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $224.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.94. Hilton Worldwide has a twelve month low of $147.58 and a twelve month high of $240.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a PE ratio of 50.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.31.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.05. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.20% and a negative return on equity of 69.65%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.04%.

Insider Activity at Hilton Worldwide

In related news, insider Laura Fuentes sold 4,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.00, for a total value of $1,067,423.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,460,933. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilton Worldwide

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 36.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,754,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,676 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 66.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,127,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,662 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 10.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,044,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,715,908,000 after acquiring an additional 761,104 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 23,730.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 479,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,610,000 after acquiring an additional 477,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Hilton Worldwide in the second quarter valued at $98,607,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

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.