Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Invests $149,000 in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 24,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 74,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 77,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $15.00 in a research note on Friday. Compass Point lowered Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.54.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of HST stock opened at $14.69 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.32 and its 200-day moving average is $17.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 1.30. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.25 and a 52 week high of $20.98.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 12.26%. Equities research analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 80.81%.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.