Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT)

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 32,074 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,098% compared to the average volume of 2,677 call options.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In related news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.68, for a total value of $4,204,967.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,536,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $496,338,015.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilton Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Savoir Faire Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Hilton Worldwide during the third quarter worth $4,270,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 19,454.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 296,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,981,000 after buying an additional 294,937 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 298,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,267,000 after buying an additional 30,676 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,674,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,159,000 after buying an additional 98,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.90% of the company's stock.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Hilton Worldwide stock traded down $0.77 on Thursday, hitting $203.93. 1,754,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,502,412. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $205.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.32. Hilton Worldwide has a 52 week low of $134.43 and a 52 week high of $215.79. The company has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a PE ratio of 47.27, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.25.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.15% and a negative return on equity of 94.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hilton Worldwide will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Hilton Worldwide's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on HLT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $190.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. HSBC raised their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $157.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Hilton Worldwide Company Profile

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.