Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 11,850 Shares of COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 25.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,222 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,850 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $971,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 2.4% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 80,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 17,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 11,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 285,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,782,000 after buying an additional 22,016 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CDP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. New Street Research set a $33.00 price target on COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.57.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CDP opened at $30.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.93. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $23.92 and a 12-month high of $33.49.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $188.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.63 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 19.23%.COPT Defense Properties’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.690-2.710 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.670-0.690 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is 91.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lisa G. Trimberger sold 4,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.72, for a total transaction of $150,405.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $623,216.64. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Company 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.