Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 755,580 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,846 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.67% of COPT Defense Properties worth $23,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CDP. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 624,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,314,000 after buying an additional 47,343 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 69,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,099,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,916,000 after acquiring an additional 335,775 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in COPT Defense Properties by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 260,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,052,000 after purchasing an additional 45,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $1,397,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock opened at $25.59 on Monday. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $34.22. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.73.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. On average, analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is 99.19%.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

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.