The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,726 shares of the company’s stock after selling 974 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.12% of COPT Defense Properties worth $3,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter worth about $407,496,000. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $129,344,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $90,045,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,948,000 after buying an additional 1,293,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,983,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,648,000 after buying an additional 174,206 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CDP. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

Shares of CDP stock opened at $31.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.99. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.33.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $187.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.11 million. COPT Defense Properties had a negative return on equity of 7.52% and a negative net margin of 15.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is -109.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In other COPT Defense Properties news, COO Britt A. Snider acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.41 per share, with a total value of $29,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,820. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

COPT Defense Properties 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.