Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 3,826,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,680,000 after purchasing an additional 216,219 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth about $475,073,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,466,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,455,000 after purchasing an additional 46,197 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,074,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,745,000 after purchasing an additional 288,587 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 14.3% in the third quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,360,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $192.00 price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $190.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Melanie Healey acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $199.65 per share, for a total transaction of $399,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,982,371.70. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Up 0.6 %

HLT opened at $215.96 on Wednesday. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $136.76 and a 1-year high of $216.90. The company has a market capitalization of $54.00 billion, a PE ratio of 46.95, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.80.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.41% and a negative return on equity of 81.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is 13.04%.

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.