AlphaQuest LLC Sells 10,070 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 78.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,070 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $83,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 valued at $90,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,067 shares during the period. Aew Capital Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $31,250,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 valued at $107,155,000 after purchasing an additional 908,401 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 472.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 730,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,267,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,762,000 after acquiring an additional 454,670 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

HIW opened at $28.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.25. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.52 and a 12-month high of $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 1.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. Equities analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.