Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,023 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 32,350 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.11% of Highwoods Properties worth $3,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,956 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 9,235 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 436.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 215,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,229,000 after buying an additional 175,499 shares during the last quarter. B&I Capital AG raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 111.7% during the 4th quarter. B&I Capital AG now owns 262,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,027,000 after acquiring an additional 138,500 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,133,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,235,000 after acquiring an additional 71,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 65.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,562 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 2,587 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.50.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE HIW traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,558,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,749. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50-day moving average is $28.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.98. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.52 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. Analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.37%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Highwoods Properties 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.