Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 2,302 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,932 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hilton Worldwide were worth $5,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HLT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide during the fourth quarter valued at about $694,787,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,314,000 after buying an additional 919,424 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,265,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,999,000 after buying an additional 685,023 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 426.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 762,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,400,000 after buying an additional 617,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2,746.1% during 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 last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Up 1.3%

HLT opened at $255.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $60.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.59, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.23. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.93 and a twelve month high of $275.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $226.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.23.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.11. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 13.74% and a negative return on equity of 54.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HLT shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $233.00 to $232.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $251.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $275.00 to $245.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $242.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.56.

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.