Anchor Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 226,223 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 15.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,754,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,676 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 33.2% during the third 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 period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 7.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,817,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,841,000 after buying an additional 200,329 shares during the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HLT shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $235.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Melius cut shares of Hilton Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $232.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.73, for a total value of $3,384,375.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,423.09. This trade represents a 38.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLT opened at $252.78 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $244.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.44. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.80 and a 1 year high of $259.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 10.70% and a negative return on equity of 60.85%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 12.88%.

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.