Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,917 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,137 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of COPT Defense Properties worth $4,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,283,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,621,000 after buying an additional 590,051 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in COPT Defense Properties by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,927,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,797,000 after acquiring an additional 21,388 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,763,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,810,000 after purchasing an additional 49,300 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,139,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,216,000 after purchasing an additional 24,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,906,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,001,000 after purchasing an additional 723,486 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CDP opened at $27.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.05. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. On average, research analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.19%.

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.