Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,422,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 51,972 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Simon Property Group worth $7,822,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 328.2% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 93.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPG has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank set a $186.00 target price on Simon Property Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.33.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of SPG stock opened at $162.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $52.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.43. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.25 and a 12-month high of $190.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $1.70. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 41.49%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. The trade was a 0.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

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.