Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 380,401 Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its stake in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,885,343 shares of the company’s stock after selling 380,401 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 2.56% of COPT Defense Properties worth $89,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on COPT Defense Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.43.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 0.7%

CDP opened at $27.45 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.86. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $23.47 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.65. The company had revenue of $187.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.37 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 18.44%. COPT Defense Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Analysts forecast that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.305 per share. This is an increase from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.60%.

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.