California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST - Free Report) by 82.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,659,005 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,198,013 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.38% of Host Hotels & Resorts worth $51,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,275,252 shares of the company's stock worth $807,923,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,578 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 22,313,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,576,000 after buying an additional 310,079 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,142,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $195,128,000 after buying an additional 438,014 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,635,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,846,000 after buying an additional 68,616 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 36.1% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 5,971,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,963,000 after buying an additional 1,582,874 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HST shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America raised Host Hotels & Resorts from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 0.2 %

Host Hotels & Resorts stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.86. The company had a trading volume of 3,952,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,923,556. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $20.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.90. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.92 and a 12 month high of $21.31. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. This is a boost from Host Hotels & Resorts's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Host Hotels & Resorts's payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Insider Transactions at Host Hotels & Resorts

In other news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $591,981.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,225,577 shares in the company, valued at $46,826,140.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.