Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 189,028 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 60.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 123,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189,028 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $2,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 24,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 12,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 74,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HST. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Compass Point downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.90.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ HST opened at $15.56 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.30. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.22 and a 12 month high of $19.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for 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 revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 83.33%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.