abrdn plc Lowers Stock Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

abrdn plc lowered its position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,630,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,044 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $31,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. CWM LLC grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 3rd quarter valued at $563,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 3rd quarter valued at $445,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 47.8% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 40,200 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 6.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 36,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,225,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HST opened at $19.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.86. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.92 and a twelve month high of $21.31. The company has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 13.93% and a return on equity of 10.82%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 76.92%.

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.