New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 26,122 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 360,729 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 26,122 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Simon Property Group worth $51,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SPG. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,312,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 9.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,138 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 56.8% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 55,270 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,271,000 after purchasing an additional 20,022 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the first quarter worth about $642,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the first quarter worth about $390,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Simon Property Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Simon Property Group from $144.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Simon Property Group from $148.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SPG traded up $2.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $150.15. 862,364 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,413,319. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54. The company has a market cap of $48.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.65. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a one year low of $100.17 and a one year high of $157.82. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $148.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.25.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.34 by ($1.05). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 42.30% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.19%. This is a boost from Simon Property Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Simon Property Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.75%.

Simon Property Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Simon Property Group Profile

Simon is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations and an S&P 100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG). Our properties across North America, Europe and Asia provide community gathering places for millions of people every day and generate billions in annual sales.