Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $99.87 Million Stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,265,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 556,828 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 3.08% of Highwoods Properties worth $99,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 124,646 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 908,401 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,133,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,235,000 after acquiring an additional 71,670 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 0.7% in 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,541,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,154,000 after purchasing an additional 290,356 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HIW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE:HIW opened at $27.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.99 and a 200-day moving average of $31.00. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.52 and a 52 week high of $36.78. 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 (NYSE:HIW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued 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 payout ratio 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.