Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,753,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,331 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $53,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,685,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 289.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 900,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,155,000 after buying an additional 669,181 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,896,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,713,000 after buying an additional 647,449 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 323.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 791,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,013,000 after acquiring an additional 604,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,393,000 after acquiring an additional 551,863 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CDP. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of COPT Defense Properties from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.38.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

NYSE CDP opened at $37.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $26.91 and a 12-month high of $38.06.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.34). The business had revenue of $200.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $185.10 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.730-2.790 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other COPT Defense Properties news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 3,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total value of $126,994.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,141.14. This trade represents a 50.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP) is a real estate investment trust organized to own, lease and manage healthcare and life science facilities serving the United States federal government, with a particular focus on Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs tenants. The company was formed in 2016 through a spin-off from Corporate Office Properties Trust, enabling it to concentrate exclusively on medical office buildings and specialized research facilities situated on or near military and federal research campuses.

The company’s portfolio comprises purpose-built, Class A medical office and outpatient specialty clinics, as well as life science laboratories.