Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 205,143 Shares of COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,999,275 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of COPT Defense Properties worth $493,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in COPT Defense Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1,176.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 31.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 59.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 810.7% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CDP shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on COPT Defense Properties from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.63.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Performance

Shares of CDP opened at $31.86 on Thursday. COPT Defense Properties has a 12 month low of $23.92 and a 12 month high of $32.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 0.86.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 19.94%.The firm had revenue of $197.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.79 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.710-2.790 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.670-0.690 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. COPT Defense Properties’s payout ratio is presently 90.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Philip L. Hawkins sold 5,536 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.71, for a total transaction of $181,082.56. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,799.48. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP) is a real estate investment trust organized to own, lease and manage healthcare and life science facilities serving the United States federal government, with a particular focus on Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs tenants. The company was formed in 2016 through a spin-off from Corporate Office Properties Trust, enabling it to concentrate exclusively on medical office buildings and specialized research facilities situated on or near military and federal research campuses.

The company’s portfolio comprises purpose-built, Class A medical office and outpatient specialty clinics, as well as life science laboratories.