Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,668,161 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 42,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.35% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $15,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PDM. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 36,698 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 11,941 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 180,887 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 34,987 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,531,458 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,013,000 after purchasing an additional 451,043 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $663,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,856 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 17,449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PDM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Price Performance

PDM traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $6.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,027,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 887,345. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.46 and a 52-week high of $11.12. The company has a market cap of $823.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.51 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.16.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. The company had revenue of $136.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sherry L. Rexroad acquired 16,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.95 per share, with a total value of $100,257.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 16,850 shares in the company, valued at $100,257.50. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Company Profile

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") NYSE: PDM is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.