Edgestream Partners L.P. Takes Position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 30,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,972,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HLT. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,215,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,585,148,000 after purchasing an additional 226,223 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,756,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,354,000 after buying an additional 1,429,537 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Hilton Worldwide by 33.2% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,234,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,624,000 after acquiring an additional 806,029 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 7.7% during 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 last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hilton Worldwide

In related news, insider Laura Fuentes sold 4,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.00, for a total transaction of $1,067,423.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,949 shares in the company, valued at $3,460,933. This represents a 23.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total value of $3,384,375.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,423.09. The trade was a 38.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $244.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $232.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $265.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.71.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

NYSE HLT opened at $253.44 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $240.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.99. The company has a market capitalization of $61.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.30. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.25 and a 12 month high of $255.86.

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

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

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

Hilton Worldwide 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.