Meritage Portfolio Management Makes New $543,000 Investment in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 711.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,481 shares of the company's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $102,000.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Britt A. Snider bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 $58,820. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company's stock.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

CDP traded up $0.29 on Monday, reaching $32.43. The stock had a trading volume of 750,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 837,983. COPT Defense Properties has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $34.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.09 and a 200-day moving average of $27.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58 and a beta of 0.98.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.34% and a return on equity of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CDP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.86.

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.