Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Shares Sold by Sowa Financial Group Inc.

Sowa Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 59.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 88,190 shares during the quarter. Piedmont Office Realty Trust comprises about 0.3% of Sowa Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Sowa Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 0.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,719,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,467,000 after purchasing an additional 14,831 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 16.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 47,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 6,556 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 15.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 116,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 15,584 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at about $132,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of PDM opened at $8.81 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $5.93 and a 1-year high of $11.11.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $139.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.56 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.61% and a negative net margin of 13.47%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.68%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -80.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PDM shares. Baird R W downgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Profile

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.