Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. $PDM Stock: Private Management Group Inc. Lowers Holdings

Key Points

• Private Management Group reduced its Piedmont Realty Trust stake by 3%, selling 123,610 shares; it still held about 3.95 million shares, or 3.19% of the company. Institutional investors own 84.48% of PDM.
• Analyst views are mixed, but MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $10.75. Recent target increases included $11 from Freedom Broker and JPMorgan.
• Piedmont missed quarterly EPS estimates, reporting a loss of $0.17 per share versus the expected loss of $0.06, while revenue of $151.24 million exceeded expectations of $146.80 million.

Private Management Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,951,829 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 123,610 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. owned about 3.19% of Piedmont Realty Trust worth $35,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PDM. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Piedmont Realty Trust by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,909,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,919,000 after acquiring an additional 16,682 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Piedmont Realty Trust by 16.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,350,794 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,660,000 after acquiring an additional 474,144 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Piedmont Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $17,788,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Piedmont Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,975,000. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Piedmont Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $3,614,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PDM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Freedom Broker raised Piedmont Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Piedmont Realty Trust from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Piedmont Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Piedmont Realty Trust from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Piedmont Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.75.

Piedmont Realty Trust Price Performance

PDM opened at $10.11 on Tuesday. Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.32 and a 1 year high of $10.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.23 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $9.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.65.

Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.11). Piedmont Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 15.18% and a negative return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $151.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $146.80 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Piedmont Realty Trust news, CFO Sherry Rexroad sold 4,446 shares of Piedmont Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $39,169.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,480.17. This trade represents a 7.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Piedmont Realty Trust Company Profile

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PDM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Free Report).

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