20,700 COPT Defense Properties $CDP Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,700 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.07% of COPT Defense Properties worth $2,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,871,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,139,000 after acquiring an additional 34,561 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,682,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,480,000 after purchasing an additional 25,026 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,317,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,312,000 after purchasing an additional 18,758 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,030,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,840,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CDP shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of CDP opened at $33.06 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.31 and its 200 day moving average is $33.61. COPT Defense Properties has a fifty-two week low of $27.06 and a fifty-two week high of $38.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 1.58.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $208.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.43 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 10.80%. Sell-side analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.49%.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust that owns, develops, manages and leases properties designed to support the U.S. government, defense and information technology sectors. Its portfolio includes office buildings, data centers, specialized facilities and other mission-critical properties leased primarily to government agencies, defense contractors and technology companies.

The company’s properties are concentrated in key defense and national security markets, including Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the broader Washington, DC, region.