Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $758,000 Stock Holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 8.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Simon Property Group by 133.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,206,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $532,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,830,264 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Simon Property Group by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,462,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $940,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,718,398 shares during the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,592,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Simon Property Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $197,377,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Simon Property Group by 16,346.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 876,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,608,000 after acquiring an additional 871,405 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $192.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $159.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Simon Property Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.73.

Simon Property Group Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of SPG stock opened at $166.99 on Friday. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $136.34 and a 1 year high of $190.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.29.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.04. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 35.98% and a return on equity of 67.32%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.56 earnings per share. Simon Property Group’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simon Property Group

In related news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $159.29 per share, with a total value of $83,149.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,269,881.55. The trade was a 0.91% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel C. Smith bought 378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $159.29 per share, for a total transaction of $60,211.62. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,096,961.42. This trade represents a 1.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 2,386 shares of company stock valued at $380,066 in the last three months. 8.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.