Pershing Square Inc.’s Lock-Up Period To End on October 26th (NYSE:PS)

Pershing Square’s (NYSE:PS) lock-up period is set to expire on Monday, October 26th. Pershing Square had issued 40,516,960 shares in its initial public offering on April 29th. The total size of the offering was $2,025,848,000 based on an initial share price of $50.00. After the expiration of Pershing Square’s lock-up period, major shareholders and company insiders will be able to sell their shares of the company.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pershing Square from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of Pershing Square in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Pershing Square from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Pershing Square from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, JonesTrading lowered Pershing Square from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $42.00.

Pershing Square Stock Down 4.5%

PS opened at $44.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.88 billion and a PE ratio of 319.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.68. Pershing Square has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $60.40.

Pershing Square (NYSE:PS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $68.03 million during the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Pershing Square will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Pershing Square Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 12th were given a dividend of $0.1030 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. This is a negative change from Pershing Square’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1220. This represents a $0.41 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Pershing Square’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 292.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pershing Square

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PS. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Pershing Square during the second quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $302,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $529,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Pershing Square in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $775,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pershing Square during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $822,000.

About Pershing Square

Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. is an investment holding company that seeks long-term capital appreciation through a concentrated portfolio of investments in publicly traded companies. The company is managed by Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., an investment management firm that typically takes significant positions in a limited number of businesses and engages with their management teams and boards.

Pershing Square’s investment approach emphasizes fundamental research, long-term ownership and active involvement with portfolio companies.