Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 47 Shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Public Storage were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PSA. Gold Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Public Storage in the 4th quarter worth approximately $849,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Public Storage by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 114,482 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,917,000 after purchasing an additional 4,695 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Public Storage by 615.7% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 19,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,040,000 after purchasing an additional 17,036 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Public Storage by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 129,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Public Storage in the 1st quarter valued at $7,319,000. Institutional investors own 78.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Public Storage

In other news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.29, for a total transaction of $109,716.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,568.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.29, for a total transaction of $109,716.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,568.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristy Pipes purchased 2,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.96 per share, for a total transaction of $599,485.04. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,149 shares in the company, valued at $599,485.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 11.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Public Storage Stock Down 1.3 %

PSA stock traded down $4.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $297.95. 362,299 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 710,671. Public Storage has a 1 year low of $233.18 and a 1 year high of $314.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $286.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.42. The stock has a market cap of $52.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 12th. Public Storage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Public Storage from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $280.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Public Storage from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Public Storage from $289.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Public Storage from $289.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Public Storage from $330.00 to $327.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $309.64.

About Public Storage

Public Storage, a member of the S&P 500 and FT Global 500, is a REIT that primarily acquires, develops, owns, and operates self-storage facilities. At December 31, 2023, we had: (i) interests in 3,044 self-storage facilities located in 40 states with approximately 218 million net rentable square feet in the United States and (ii) a 35% common equity interest in Shurgard Self Storage Limited (Euronext Brussels: SHUR), which owned 275 self-storage facilities located in seven Western European nations with approximately 15 million net rentable square feet operated under the Shurgard brand.