Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.2%, now holding 111,379,715 shares valued at approximately $1.58 billion.
• Several institutional investors, including Mirae Asset Global Investments and Cerity Partners LLC, have increased their holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Host Hotels & Resorts, with Evercore ISI setting a new target of $20.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's performance.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST - Free Report) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,379,715 shares of the company's stock after selling 254,910 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 16.07% of Host Hotels & Resorts worth $1,582,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 184.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 9,752,018 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,855,000 after acquiring an additional 6,326,709 shares in the last quarter. Rush Island Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at $99,402,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,752,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,947,000 after acquiring an additional 4,158,219 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 50,002,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $876,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,932,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 198.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,748,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on HST shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $17.00 to $18.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.88.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

HST stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,395,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,822,923. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.36. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $15.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 9.90%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Host Hotels & Resorts's payout ratio is 85.11%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.