BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Stock Holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,335 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,967 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.07% of COPT Defense Properties worth $2,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 392.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 132,309 shares of the company's stock worth $4,013,000 after acquiring an additional 105,446 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,763,277 shares of the company's stock worth $83,810,000 after buying an additional 49,300 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 4.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 67,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 16.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 40,741 shares of the company's stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 5,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 464,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,092,000 after purchasing an additional 92,466 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $32.62. 1,239,155 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,313,930. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.80. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 96.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought 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 owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,820. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company's stock.

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.