Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 656,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 220,919 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.62% of Highwoods Properties worth $21,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 131.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,778,000 after buying an additional 1,536,067 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,155,000 after purchasing an additional 908,401 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 472.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 885,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,674,000 after purchasing an additional 730,859 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 537.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,264,000 after purchasing an additional 409,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 109.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 552,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,501,000 after purchasing an additional 288,500 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Highwoods Properties stock opened at $29.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.37 and a 12-month high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.28.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The business had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 149.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on HIW shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

Highwoods Properties, Inc, headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa.