Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Raises Stock Holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST - Free Report) by 607.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 243,154 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 208,797 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $4,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HST. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 6.7% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 37,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 25,592 shares of the company's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 4,870 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $182,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 6,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 3,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HST. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James lowered their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Compass Point lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.17.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of HST stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.66. 5,532,413 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,964,684. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.73. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.22 and a 52-week high of $19.87.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. Research analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 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 Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.81%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company 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.