Man Group plc Increases Position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Man Group plc grew its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Free Report) by 535.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 419,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 353,276 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned 0.34% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $3,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 88.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 237,407 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,398,000 after buying an additional 111,596 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $663,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,313,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 1,033,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,454,000 after buying an additional 327,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 54,024 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares during the last quarter. 84.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Down 3.5%

NYSE PDM opened at $6.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $815.49 million, a P/E ratio of -10.40 and a beta of 1.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.46 and a 52-week high of $11.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $136.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $141.29 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 bought 16,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.95 per share, for a total transaction of $100,257.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,850 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,257.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PDM. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

About Piedmont Office Realty Trust

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.

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