Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 224,220 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,504,094 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 224,220 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 15.57% of Highwoods Properties worth $504,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aew Capital Management L P acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter worth $31,250,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 worth $107,155,000 after acquiring an additional 908,401 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of 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 period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,267,553 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,762,000 after purchasing an additional 454,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 537.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,264,000 after purchasing an additional 409,258 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 2.8 %

Highwoods Properties stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading 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. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.52 and a 12 month high of $36.78. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $28.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 1.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

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

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.