Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,898,986 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 919,424 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $1,952,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at about $765,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Hilton Worldwide by 194.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 953,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,098,000 after buying an additional 185,765 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 225,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,774,000 after acquiring an additional 4,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,090,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,069,000 after acquiring an additional 121,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on HLT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $263.00 price target (up from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.53.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of HLT stock opened at $232.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.74, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $193.86 and a one year high of $275.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.61.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 13.74%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid 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 yield of 0.26%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is 9.76%.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total transaction of $10,928,745.99. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,802,871.89. This represents a 34.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.