Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Position in Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) by 13.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,680 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Boston Properties were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BXP. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 29.8% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,094,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $136,800,000 after purchasing an additional 480,961 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,986,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,407,000 after purchasing an additional 468,950 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 32.9% during the 2nd 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 period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 206.6% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,961 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,240,000 after purchasing an additional 342,939 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Boston Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $18,828,000. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Boston Properties in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Boston Properties from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Boston Properties from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush raised their target price on Boston Properties from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Boston Properties from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.08.

Boston Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BXP opened at $81.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 4.83 and a current ratio of 4.83. Boston Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.64 and a fifty-two week high of $83.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.72 billion, a PE ratio of 66.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.37.

Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($1.21). Boston Properties had a return on equity of 2.05% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $850.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.49 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. Boston Properties’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Boston Properties, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boston Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Boston Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 321.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boston Properties news, EVP Raymond A. Ritchey sold 21,835 shares of Boston Properties 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Peter V. Otteni sold 4,785 shares of the business’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Raymond A. Ritchey sold 21,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.25, for a total value of $1,621,248.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.