Quantessence Capital LLC Takes Position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,429,537 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hilton Worldwide by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,314,000 after acquiring an additional 919,424 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,225,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,786,151,000 after purchasing an additional 142,620 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,910,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,893,000 after purchasing an additional 67,292 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,411,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,090,346,000 after purchasing an additional 320,550 shares during the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on HLT. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective (up from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie lifted their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $251.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $258.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hilton Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $243.44.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

NYSE HLT opened at $210.73 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $233.77 and a 200 day moving average of $243.12. The company has a market capitalization of $50.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.19. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.71 and a 1 year high of $275.22.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 13.74% and a negative return on equity of 54.47%. Research analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. This represents a 34.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.