SOL Capital Management CO Sells 3,837 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

SOL Capital Management CO lowered its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,837 shares during the period. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 537.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,893,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811,722 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,629 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,610,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,305,000 after acquiring an additional 3,412,589 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,764,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,056,000 after purchasing an additional 950,431 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:HST opened at $16.71 on Friday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.71 and a twelve month high of $21.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.57.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 12.92%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Compass Point raised shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.96.

Host Hotels & Resorts 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.