Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) Short Interest Up 5.5% in January

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,000,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the January 15th total of 3,790,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $5,880,287.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total value of $10,928,745.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 77,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,802,871.89. This trade represents a 34.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLT. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 15,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 4,118 shares during the period. 95.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HLT opened at $268.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.48 billion, a PE ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide has a 12 month low of $193.86 and a 12 month high of $275.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $252.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.38.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 57.01% and a net margin of 13.74%. Equities research analysts predict that Hilton Worldwide will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 9.76%.

Hilton Worldwide declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HLT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie lifted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $248.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $235.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $246.61.

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.