TCW Group Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 34,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,453,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLT. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $2,585,148,000 after purchasing an additional 226,223 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $2,479,354,000 after buying an additional 1,429,537 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 121,900 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,164,000 after acquiring an additional 164,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stockbridge Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 600,593 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $263.00 target price (up previously from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie boosted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $246.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total transaction of $10,928,745.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,802,871.89. The trade was a 34.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $5,880,287.56. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of HLT stock opened at $259.31 on Monday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.86 and a fifty-two week high of $275.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $253.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.12. The stock has a market cap of $62.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 13.74% and a negative return on equity of 54.47%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.