Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of June.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,327,596 shares, a decline of 40.3% from the May 29th total of 3,901,641 shares, Market Beatreports. Based on an average trading volume of 2,553,757 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

In other Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide news, EVP Jeffrey M. Cava sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.55, for a total value of $262,650.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

A number of research firms have recently commented on HOT. Analysts at RBC Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Analysts at Bank of America upgraded shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Analysts at Deutsche Bank set a $98.00 price target on shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Analysts at Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, analysts at Zacks upgraded shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.82.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) opened at 81.76 on Monday. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has a 52-week low of $68.53 and a 52-week high of $87.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.54 and a 200-day moving average of $81.02. The company has a market cap of $13.97 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will post $2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hotel and leisure company. The Company’s hotel business is focused on the global operation of hotels and resorts primarily in the luxury and upper upscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. It manages and operates its hotel business in three hotel segments: the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East (NYSE:HOT), and Asia Pacific. Its vacation ownership and residential business is a separate segment. As of December 31, 2014, the Company’s hotel business included 1,207 owned, managed or franchised hotels with approximately 346,600 rooms, comprising 36 hotels that it owns or leases or in which the Company has a majority equity interest, 583 hotels managed by the Company on behalf of third-party owners and 588 hotels for which it receives franchise fees.