Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Purchased by State Street Corp

State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,289,806 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 124,646 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 6.88% of Highwoods Properties worth $244,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 269.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,114 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HIW traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 581,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 994,276. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.83 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HIW shares. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.20.

About Highwoods Properties

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.