COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 221,600 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $6,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 192.9% in the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,158,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,847,000 after purchasing an additional 762,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,906,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,001,000 after buying an additional 723,486 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,693,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,689,000 after acquiring an additional 710,491 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 404.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 792,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,043,000 after acquiring an additional 635,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,063,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CDP. BTIG Research increased their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

COPT Defense Properties stock opened at $26.78 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. COPT Defense Properties has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $34.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.96.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 18.44%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.305 dividend. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is currently 99.19%.

COPT Defense Properties Profile

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.