Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) Shares Acquired by Cooper Financial Group

Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,637 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Hilton Worldwide during the second quarter worth $425,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 427,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,273,000 after acquiring an additional 37,591 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,037,464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,676 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 12.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 691,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,768,000 after purchasing an additional 77,560 shares during the period. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $235.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $243.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Melius downgraded Hilton Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.24.

Insider Activity

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total value of $3,384,375.61. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Up 0.4 %

Hilton Worldwide stock opened at $241.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.47. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.96 and a twelve month high of $259.01.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Hilton Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.88%.

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

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.