First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP cut its COPT Defense Properties stake by 73.4% in the first quarter, selling 75,627 shares and retaining 27,344 shares valued at approximately $837,000.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with five Buy ratings and three Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $36.25.
• COPT Defense Properties exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.40 in EPS versus a $0.33 estimate and $197.39 million in revenue; it also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.32, yielding about 3.5% annually.

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 73.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,344 shares of the company's stock after selling 75,627 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDP. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 224,000 shares of the company's stock worth $6,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $40,312,000 after buying an additional 18,758 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 27,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 79,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,436,000 after buying an additional 14,318 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CDP has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.25.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE CDP opened at $36.46 on Tuesday. COPT Defense Properties has a 52-week low of $27.06 and a 52-week high of $38.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.93 and a 200-day moving average of $33.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.07. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 20.94%.The business had revenue of $197.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.36 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.390-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.370-0.390 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at COPT Defense Properties

In other news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 3,922 shares of COPT Defense Properties stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total value of $126,994.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at $123,141.14. The trade was a 50.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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