Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $1.71 Million Stock Holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,758 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,650 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $1,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Pension Service bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 202.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 716.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Compass Point downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

HST opened at $15.14 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.27. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.29. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.22 and a 1 year high of $19.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 2.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.28%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.33%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

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.