Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Sells 2,129 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,129 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 3rd quarter valued at $563,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter worth $445,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 47.8% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 124,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 40,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 6.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 36,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:HST opened at $19.29 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.92 and a 1-year high of $21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $20.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.88.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HST. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

Insider Transactions at Host Hotels & Resorts

In other Host Hotels & Resorts news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $591,981.44. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.