Sun Life Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 120,239 Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP)

Sun Life Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 120,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $9,674,000. Boston Properties comprises 0.5% of Sun Life Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Sun Life Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of Boston Properties as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BXP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Boston Properties by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,568,962 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,539,289,000 after buying an additional 122,583 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Boston Properties by 25.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,637,235 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,348,000 after acquiring an additional 542,610 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Boston Properties by 6.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,923,225 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,394,000 after purchasing an additional 120,650 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Boston Properties by 32.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,503,687 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $92,567,000 after purchasing an additional 371,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Boston Properties by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,248,824 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $76,878,000 after purchasing an additional 38,048 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BXP shares. Piper Sandler raised shares of Boston Properties from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Boston Properties from $65.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Boston Properties from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Boston Properties from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Boston Properties from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Boston Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boston Properties news, EVP Raymond A. Ritchey sold 21,835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.25, for a total transaction of $1,621,248.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Boston Properties news, EVP Raymond A. Ritchey sold 21,835 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.25, for a total transaction of $1,621,248.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter V. Otteni sold 4,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.44, for a total value of $351,410.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Boston Properties Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:BXP traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $87.39. The stock had a trading volume of 977,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,262,460. The company has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a PE ratio of 72.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.95. Boston Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $50.64 and a 1-year high of $90.11. The company has a current ratio of 4.83, a quick ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($1.21). The firm had revenue of $850.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.49 million. Boston Properties had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 2.05%. Boston Properties's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Boston Properties, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Boston Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. Boston Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 321.31%.

About Boston Properties

Boston Properties, Inc NYSE: BXP (BXP or the Company) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets - Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years.