New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,295 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 215,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,295 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $53,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 2.1% during the third 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,756,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,479,354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,537 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 3.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,090,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,069,000 after purchasing an additional 121,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,164,000 after purchasing an additional 164,461 shares during the period. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 63.6% during the third quarter. Stockbridge Partners LLC now owns 1,544,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,984,000 after purchasing an additional 600,593 shares during the period. 95.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total value of $10,928,745.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares in the company, valued at $20,802,871.89. This trade represents a 34.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $235.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $246.61.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Down 1.3 %

HLT opened at $265.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.84 billion, a PE ratio of 43.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.43 and a 52 week high of $275.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.34.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 57.01% and a net margin of 13.74%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 9.76%.

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.