Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT)

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 32,074 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,098% compared to the average volume of 2,677 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of Hilton Worldwide stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.68, for a total transaction of $4,204,967.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,536,478 shares in the company, valued at $496,338,015.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilton Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Putnam Investments LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hilton Worldwide in the fourth quarter worth about $475,073,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Hilton Worldwide by 181.1% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,607,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,156 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised 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 in the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

HLT stock opened at $202.12 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $205.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.82. The company has a market capitalization of $50.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.94, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.25. Hilton Worldwide has a 1-year low of $134.43 and a 1-year high of $215.79.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 81.29% and a net margin of 11.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 13.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HLT. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $157.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $212.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

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.