Perpetual Ltd Takes $822,000 Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,289,806 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $244,281,000 after acquiring an additional 124,646 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $107,155,000 after acquiring an additional 908,401 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 131.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $90,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,067 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,061,572 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $69,083,000 after acquiring an additional 34,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,902,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $63,754,000 after purchasing an additional 12,958 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HIW traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $29.73. 264,145 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 686,077. 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 has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $30.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.53. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.46 and a 1 year high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations of $204.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HIW shares. Mizuho upped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.86.

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.