Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,607 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 55,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after buying an additional 13,606 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 82.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 17,553 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position 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. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 376,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,666,000 after purchasing an additional 18,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CDP shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.88.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

CDP stock opened at $26.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.96. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced 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, analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors 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 4.54%. This is a boost from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.19%.

COPT Defense Properties Profile

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.