Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 511 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 511 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,371,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,017,000 after buying an additional 1,139,688 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,328,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,459,000 after acquiring an additional 9,397 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $46,833,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,773,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,552,000 after purchasing an additional 106,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 47.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,271,000 after purchasing an additional 504,777 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW opened at $26.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.77. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.06 and a 1 year high of $27.57.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HIW shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.75.

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.