Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Free Report) by 237.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,399 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,288 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $1,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDP. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 87.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 218,999 shares of the company's stock worth $6,643,000 after purchasing an additional 102,280 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in COPT Defense Properties by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,938 shares of the company's stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 2,917 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,081 shares of the company's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $1,481,000. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 38,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 16,399 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert L. Denton sold 4,398 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.70, for a total transaction of $117,426.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE CDP traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $27.47. 793,219 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 937,212. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.55 and its 200-day moving average is $28.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $23.84 and a 12-month high of $34.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.86.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business had revenue of $187.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. COPT Defense Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 97.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CDP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two investment 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, COPT Defense Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.14.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.