Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 723,486 Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 61.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,906,341 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 723,486 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.69% of COPT Defense Properties worth $59,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CDP. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 150,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,648,000 after buying an additional 10,769 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 233,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,258,000 after acquiring an additional 13,302 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in COPT Defense Properties by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 3,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 647,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,051,000 after purchasing an additional 5,983 shares during the last quarter.

COPT Defense Properties Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of CDP opened at $26.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.98. COPT Defense Properties has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.47. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.33. COPT Defense Properties had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 9.07%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CDP shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.88.

About COPT Defense Properties

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.