West Coast Financial LLC Sells 13,351 Shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

West Coast Financial LLC reduced its stake in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) by 31.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,351 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Public Storage were worth $8,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PSA. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Public Storage by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 142,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,762,000 after buying an additional 2,605 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Public Storage by 114.2% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 91,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,302,000 after purchasing an additional 48,803 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Public Storage by 3,714.6% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Public Storage by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,566,000 after acquiring an additional 5,793 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Public Storage by 4.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 72,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,468,000 after acquiring an additional 2,832 shares in the last quarter. 78.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.99, for a total value of $143,095.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $751,728.36. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PSA. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Public Storage from $293.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on Public Storage from $380.00 to $361.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Public Storage from $360.00 to $422.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Public Storage from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Public Storage from $343.00 to $338.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Public Storage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.54.

Public Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSA stock opened at $290.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Public Storage has a 52 week low of $256.31 and a 52 week high of $369.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $319.23 and a 200-day moving average of $325.70. The company has a market cap of $50.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.74.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Public Storage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.61%.

Public Storage Profile

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.