Axa S.A. Acquires 19,657 Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 250.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,508 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,657 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CDP. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,591 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the third quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter worth $110,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CDP traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $26.94. The stock had a trading volume of 180,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 918,245. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.86. The business's fifty day moving average is $26.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.95. COPT Defense Properties has a twelve month low of $23.47 and a twelve month high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65. The firm had revenue of $187.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties's payout ratio is presently 97.60%.

COPT Defense Properties Profile

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.