Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Shares Sold by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,034 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,556 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $1,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the 4th quarter valued at about $410,211,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,275,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $807,923,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,578 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 7.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,154,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $956,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240,590 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 102.1% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 5,000,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,168,000 after buying an additional 2,526,434 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,392,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,230,000 after buying an additional 2,276,596 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HST shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.20.

Insider Activity

In other Host Hotels & Resorts news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

HST traded up $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.68. The stock had a trading volume of 5,737,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,338,313. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.92 and a 1-year high of $21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.36. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is presently 76.92%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.