Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 885 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,629 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,296,000 after purchasing an additional 181,103 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,189,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,218,000 after purchasing an additional 965,100 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 7,962,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,458 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 537.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,893,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811,722 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $18.20 on Monday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.71 and a 52 week high of $21.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $12.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.03 and a 200-day moving average of $17.70.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.39.

Host Hotels & Resorts Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.