Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 3,366 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,366 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HLT. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,756,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,354,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,537 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 36.9% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,234,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,624,000 after buying an additional 806,029 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 7.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,817,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,841,000 after acquiring an additional 200,329 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 1.2% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,158,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,978,000 after buying an additional 26,075 shares in the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Laura Fuentes sold 4,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.00, for a total transaction of $1,067,423.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,949 shares in the company, valued at $3,460,933. This represents a 23.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total transaction of $3,384,375.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,423.09. This trade represents a 38.60 % 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 Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HLT opened at $252.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.08, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $236.52 and its 200-day moving average is $219.93. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $165.25 and a twelve month high of $255.86.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is 12.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $232.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $265.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. 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. Truist Financial raised their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Melius cut Hilton Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.71.

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.