Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $8.00. The stock had previously closed at $7.79, but opened at $7.20. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Piedmont Office Realty Trust shares last traded at $7.53, with a volume of 172,056 shares changing hands.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Piedmont Office Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 price of $5.95 per share, with a total value of $100,257.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 16,850 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,257.50. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $663,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,313,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 1,033,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,454,000 after purchasing an additional 327,982 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 242,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 46,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 818,947 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,497,000 after buying an additional 47,110 shares in the last quarter. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.69. The stock has a market cap of $933.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.92 and a beta of 1.44.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $136.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.29 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.82% and a negative net margin of 13.86%. The business's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

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.