Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 68,034 Shares of COPT Defense Properties $CDP

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,775,990 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,034 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $49,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1,176.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Optima Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares during the period.

Insider Transactions at COPT Defense Properties

In related news, Director Philip L. Hawkins sold 5,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.71, for a total value of $181,082.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,799.48. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CDP. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded COPT Defense Properties from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, COPT Defense Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.38.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of COPT Defense Properties stock opened at $31.69 on Friday. COPT Defense Properties has a 52-week low of $26.37 and a 52-week high of $33.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a current ratio of 2.85.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.34). COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm had revenue of $200.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. COPT Defense Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.730-2.790 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.78 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.75%.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.