Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 17.5%, owning approximately 79,445 shares valued at about $2.17 million after the sale.
• Alliancebernstein L.P. significantly increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 813%, acquiring over 6.2 million shares, while several other institutional investors also adjusted their positions.
• COPT Defense Properties reported earnings of $0.65 per share for the last quarter, aligning with analyst expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend yielding 4.36% annually.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,445 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,876 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of COPT Defense Properties worth $2,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CDP. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 813.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,247,854 shares of the company's stock worth $193,371,000 after acquiring an additional 5,563,548 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,718,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,283,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,621,000 after purchasing an additional 590,051 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter worth $16,063,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,099,052 shares of the company's stock worth $95,916,000 after buying an additional 335,775 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at COPT Defense Properties

In related news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 4,398 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.70, for a total value of $117,426.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.14.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.50. The company had a trading volume of 188,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,633. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 3.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.56. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $23.92 and a 12-month high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $175.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.55 million. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 9.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.