Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Free Report) by 72.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 62,233 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $1,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 7,041.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 914,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,627,000 after purchasing an additional 901,292 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON bought a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at about $7,123,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 358.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 895,991 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,050,000 after acquiring an additional 700,616 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,069,508 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,802,000 after acquiring an additional 344,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,812,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:PDM traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.81. 484,561 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 863,471. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.22. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.93 and a 12-month high of $11.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -14.21 and a beta of 1.20.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $139.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $143.56 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.61% and a negative net margin of 13.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust's payout ratio is -80.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Profile

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") NYSE: PDM is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.