Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) Short Interest Update

Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,300,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the December 15th total of 6,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boston Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,637,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,348,000 after purchasing an additional 542,610 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Boston Properties by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,503,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,567,000 after buying an additional 371,946 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Boston Properties in the second quarter worth $12,914,000. Sun Life Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Boston Properties in the third quarter valued at $9,674,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 208.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 163,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,090,000 after acquiring an additional 110,700 shares during the period. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Boston Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BXP traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,086,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 958,979. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.07. Boston Properties has a one year low of $56.46 and a one year high of $90.11. The stock has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 5.51 and a current ratio of 5.51.

Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($1.28). Boston Properties had a return on equity of 4.40% and a net margin of 10.75%. The business had revenue of $859.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $829.91 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Boston Properties will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boston Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. Boston Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 169.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Boston Properties from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Boston Properties from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Boston Properties from $93.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Boston Properties from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Boston Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.00.

Boston Properties Company Profile

Boston Properties, Inc (NYSE: BXP) (BXP or the Company) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years.