Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 4,621,072 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST - Free Report) by 94.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 286,907 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,621,072 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $5,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth about $807,878,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,555,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,171,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460,468 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,752,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,947,000 after buying an additional 4,158,219 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 50,002,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $876,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,932,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,610,981 shares of the company's stock worth $98,305,000 after acquiring an additional 3,412,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company's stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HST traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.82. The company had a trading volume of 5,592,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,067,903. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's 50 day moving average is $14.38 and its 200-day moving average is $16.40. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.22 and a 1-year high of $19.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts's payout ratio is 83.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HST shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.90.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.