Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 26.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,831 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 13.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 42,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 4,885 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,797,000 after purchasing an additional 21,388 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 101,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CDP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

NYSE CDP opened at $30.84 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.63. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

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

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is 96.72%.

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.