Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 121,056 Shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA - Free Report) by 97.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 121,056 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Public Storage were worth $1,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Public Storage by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,433,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,626,731,000 after purchasing an additional 592,944 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Storage by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,010,044 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,197,769,000 after purchasing an additional 78,472 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Public Storage during the 4th quarter worth $931,286,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Public Storage by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,476,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $741,592,000 after purchasing an additional 749,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Public Storage by 44.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,407,754 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $421,538,000 after purchasing an additional 433,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Public Storage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Public Storage from $365.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Public Storage in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $287.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Public Storage from $329.00 to $328.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Public Storage from $354.00 to $351.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Public Storage currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $337.42.

Public Storage Stock Performance

NYSE PSA traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $295.94. The company had a trading volume of 592,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 745,672. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $51.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.26. Public Storage has a fifty-two week low of $256.60 and a fifty-two week high of $369.99.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Public Storage had a net margin of 40.54% and a return on equity of 34.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Public Storage will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Public Storage's payout ratio is 119.17%.

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.