COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 651,615 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,214 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.58% of COPT Defense Properties worth $20,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 55,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 13,606 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 82.3% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 17,553 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,763,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,810,000 after purchasing an additional 49,300 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 376,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,666,000 after buying an additional 18,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on CDP. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.88.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CDP opened at $26.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.38. COPT Defense Properties has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $34.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.45.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 18.44%. Equities research analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. This is a boost from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.93%.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.