Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 282.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,001 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HLT. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,215,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,585,148,000 after acquiring an additional 226,223 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,756,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,479,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,537 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 3.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,090,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,069,000 after purchasing an additional 121,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 806,029 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 7.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,817,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,841,000 after buying an additional 200,329 shares during the period. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $243.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.24.

Insider Activity at Hilton Worldwide

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,746,152.78. This represents a 50.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE HLT opened at $243.86 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $249.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.96 and a fifty-two week high of $259.01.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

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

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.