Banco Santander S.A. Has $1.80 Million Stock Holdings in Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 116.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,262 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,906 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $1,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 2,746.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 502,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,487,000 after buying an additional 484,436 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 52,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,905,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. bought a new stake in Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,202,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 42,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,418,000 after buying an additional 11,905 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 95.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on HLT shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective (up previously from $243.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $265.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.61.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HLT opened at $247.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.86 and a 1 year high of $275.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $255.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.54.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last issued its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 13.74%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.76%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilton Worldwide

In related news, 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 transaction of $10,928,745.99. Following the sale, the insider now owns 77,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,802,871.89. This trade represents a 34.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total value of $5,880,287.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.