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

Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened 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 brokerages have also commented on PDM. Wall Street Zen raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Piedmont Office Realty Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Piedmont Office Realty Trust news, CFO Sherry L. Rexroad acquired 16,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.95 per share, with a total value of $100,257.50. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PDM. Vision Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 65.0% in the 4th quarter. Vision Capital Corp now owns 3,526,777 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,477 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,281,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $20,877,000 after purchasing an additional 845,098 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $5,764,000. Helix Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $6,405,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,719,332 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $24,882,000 after purchasing an additional 699,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.48% of the company's stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Down 3.6%

The company has a market cap of $934.30 million, a PE ratio of -11.92 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $6.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The company 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 was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share 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.