Aberdeen Group plc Acquires 93,838 Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. $HLT

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc significantly increased its stake in Hilton Worldwide by 96.2%, acquiring an additional 93,838 shares, totaling 191,354 shares valued at approximately $42.89 million.
• In recent analyst reports, Hilton Worldwide received a mix of target price changes, with Evercore ISI lowering their target from $275 to $245, while Raymond James raised it from $275 to $300, indicating varied expectations about the company’s performance.
• Hilton Worldwide announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.2%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 9.22% indicating potential for future increases.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT - Free Report) by 96.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,354 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 93,838 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.08% of Hilton Worldwide worth $42,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 727,654 shares of the company's stock worth $165,555,000 after buying an additional 26,007 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its position in Hilton Worldwide by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 3,459 shares of the company's stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 8,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,030,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 95.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HLT. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $223.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $296.00 to $291.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $276.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Dbs Bank upgraded Hilton Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $264.40.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Performance

HLT traded up $8.9650 during trading on Friday, reaching $278.1550. The company had a trading volume of 520,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,006,168. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $265.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.29. The company has a market cap of $65.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.76, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.26. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.04 and a 12-month high of $279.46.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.09 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 46.13% and a net margin of 13.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. Hilton Worldwide has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.980-2.040 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.830-8.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Hilton Worldwide's payout ratio is 9.22%.

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.