Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,999,275 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 205,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 15.05% of COPT Defense Properties worth $493,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the second quarter worth $39,371,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,393,000 after purchasing an additional 551,863 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,241,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,719,000 after buying an additional 406,617 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 38.8% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,001,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,104,000 after buying an additional 279,790 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,566,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,630,000 after buying an additional 253,558 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CDP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.63.

Insider Activity at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, Director Philip L. Hawkins sold 5,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.71, for a total transaction of $181,082.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,799.48. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of CDP stock opened at $31.86 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.18 and a 200 day moving average of $29.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 3.95 and a quick ratio of 2.34. COPT Defense Properties has a 1-year low of $23.92 and a 1-year high of $32.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.86.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 19.94%.The firm had revenue of $197.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.710-2.790 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.670-0.690 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.37%.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.