Westover Capital Advisors LLC Sells 50 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $2,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,597,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,748,000 after buying an additional 39,786 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 194.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total transaction of $10,928,745.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. This represents a 34.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,746,152.78. This represents a 50.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $249.24.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE:HLT opened at $263.69 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $254.85 and its 200-day moving average is $242.41. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.86 and a 52 week high of $275.22. The firm has a market cap of $63.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.74% and a negative return on equity of 54.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

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

About Hilton Worldwide

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.