Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $16.06 Million in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 519,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,063,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.46% of COPT Defense Properties as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in COPT Defense Properties by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in COPT Defense Properties by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in COPT Defense Properties in the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the third quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock opened at $26.36 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.69 and its 200 day moving average is $29.57. COPT Defense Properties has a one year low of $22.53 and a one year high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43 and a beta of 0.92.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.305 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.