Forsta AP Fonden Lowers Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 100,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,100 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $17,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 7,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Simon Property Group

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz acquired 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $168.59 per share, with a total value of $78,394.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. The trade was a 0.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:SPG opened at $173.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $176.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.30. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.15 and a 12 month high of $186.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20. The stock has a market cap of $56.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 111.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Simon Property Group

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.