IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 4,707 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,707 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $3,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $615,558,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 6,719,578 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,664,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter worth about $38,873,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HST shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

HST stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.86. 3,952,161 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,460,994. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.24 and its 200 day moving average is $18.90. The stock has a market cap of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.92 and a 52-week high of $21.31. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.20 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value 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 approximately $46,826,140.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.