Cerity Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 16,277 COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 32.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 55,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after buying an additional 13,606 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 17,553 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,761 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 66.5% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 233,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,808,000 after purchasing an additional 93,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 173.3% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 23,257 shares in the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CDP opened at $32.62 on Friday. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.80. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.32). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The business had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CDP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.41 per share, for a total transaction of $29,410.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,820. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements.