Swiss National Bank Sells 61,700 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,225,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $43,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 186.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Host Hotels & Resorts

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on HST shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.29.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $18.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 6.66 and a quick ratio of 3.29. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.92 and a 12 month high of $21.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.03.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 13.35%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.43%.

Host Hotels & Resorts 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.