UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 404.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 792,728 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 635,705 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.70% of COPT Defense Properties worth $24,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CDP. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 65.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,274,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,761 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 179.5% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,190,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,807,000 after purchasing an additional 764,859 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 443.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 692,261 shares of the company's stock worth $17,327,000 after buying an additional 564,794 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in COPT Defense Properties by 315.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 567,997 shares of the company's stock worth $13,978,000 after buying an additional 431,173 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 72.4% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 876,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,580,000 after buying an additional 367,969 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Britt A. Snider purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased 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 owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,820. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CDP remained flat at $32.61 during midday trading on Friday. 1,239,155 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 882,888. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $31.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74 and a beta of 0.98. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last released its 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). COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $189.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

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

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.