Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Shares Acquired by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 150.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,051,599 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 632,244 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.15% of Host Hotels & Resorts worth $20,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,873,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 18.7% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 97,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,601 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,460,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,478,000 after purchasing an additional 42,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on HST. Raymond James increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.20.

Insider Transactions at Host Hotels & Resorts

In other news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,225,577 shares in the company, valued at $46,826,140.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 1.8 %

HST opened at $18.74 on Thursday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.92 and a 52 week high of $21.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.77. The firm has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.92%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.