Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 594 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 617.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,191,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $539,393,000 after buying an additional 2,746,503 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Simon Property Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,620,355 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $442,892,000 after acquiring an additional 88,378 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Simon Property Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,487,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,484,000 after acquiring an additional 25,519 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Simon Property Group by 373.6% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,259,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,906,000 after purchasing an additional 993,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,142,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $193,023,000 after purchasing an additional 73,742 shares in the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the purchase, the director now owns 55,919 shares in the company, valued at $9,427,384.21. This represents a 0.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SPG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.10.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of SPG stock opened at $172.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $56.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.75. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.15 and a 1 year high of $186.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $177.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.36.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($1.54). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 43.36% and a return on equity of 76.21%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is currently 111.85%.

Simon Property Group Company Profile

Simon Property Group, Inc (NYSE:SPG) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Simon Property Group, L.P., or the Operating Partnership, is our majority-owned partnership subsidiary that owns all of our real estate properties and other assets. In this package, the terms Simon, we, our, or the Company refer to Simon Property Group, Inc, the Operating Partnership, and its subsidiaries.