Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) Stake Boosted by SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.

SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,867 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,250 shares during the quarter. Hilton Worldwide comprises approximately 7.3% of SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $10,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HLT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $2,479,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,537 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,234,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,624,000 after buying an additional 806,029 shares during the last quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,544,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,984,000 after buying an additional 600,593 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 23,730.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 479,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,610,000 after acquiring an additional 477,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the second quarter worth $65,960,000. Institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total transaction of $3,384,375.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,423.09. This represents a 38.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of Hilton Worldwide stock opened at $246.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.07. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.86 and a 52-week high of $259.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a PE ratio of 52.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.30.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm 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 was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is 12.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HLT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Melius lowered Hilton Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $232.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.24.

Hilton Worldwide Company 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.