COPT Defense Properties $CDP Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 52.6% in Q4, selling 322,107 shares and retaining 289,845 shares (about 0.26% of the company) valued at $8.06 million.
• Broker sentiment is broadly positive with five Buy and three Hold ratings, a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.88 after several firms raised price targets recently.
• COPT beat Q4 estimates (EPS $0.70 vs. $0.68; revenue $197.36M vs. $188.79M), set FY2026 guidance at 2.710–2.790 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.32 (annualized $1.28, ~3.9% yield).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its position in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 52.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 289,845 shares of the company's stock after selling 322,107 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.26% of COPT Defense Properties worth $8,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 12.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 104,602 shares of the company's stock worth $2,853,000 after buying an additional 11,316 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 67,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,828,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 5.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 834,042 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,744,000 after buying an additional 39,683 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 152.4% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 214,122 shares of the company's stock worth $5,839,000 after acquiring an additional 129,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 11.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 758,513 shares of the company's stock worth $20,920,000 after acquiring an additional 80,153 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CDP. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.88.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

CDP opened at $32.47 on Friday. COPT Defense Properties has a 1 year low of $25.21 and a 1 year high of $32.96. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 3.95.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $197.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.79 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 19.94% and a return on equity of 9.82%. COPT Defense Properties's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. 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 expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from COPT Defense Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. COPT Defense Properties's payout ratio is currently 94.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In related news, Director Philip L. Hawkins sold 5,536 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.71, for a total value of $181,082.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $496,799.48. This trade represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.