Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 7,333 Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 7,333 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.09% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vision Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 65.0% in the fourth quarter. Vision Capital Corp now owns 3,526,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,477 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 126.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 10,649 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 74,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 5,258 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 36,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 11,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 180,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 34,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Piedmont Office Realty Trust

In other news, CFO Sherry L. Rexroad purchased 16,850 shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.95 per share, for a total transaction of $100,257.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,257.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE PDM opened at $6.64 on Friday. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.46 and a twelve month high of $11.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $826.07 million, a P/E ratio of -10.54 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.33.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $136.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.29 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.82% and a negative net margin of 13.86%. The company’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.53%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -102.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W lowered shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Profile

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.