Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC Acquires 5,080 Shares of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC increased its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 544,664 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,080 shares during the quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC owned about 0.48% of COPT Defense Properties worth $16,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CDP. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 813.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 6,247,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,371,000 after purchasing an additional 5,563,548 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in COPT Defense Properties during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,718,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its position in COPT Defense Properties by 192.9% during the 4th quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,158,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,847,000 after buying an additional 762,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,906,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,001,000 after buying an additional 723,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 35.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,693,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,689,000 after acquiring an additional 710,491 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

COPT Defense Properties Price Performance

CDP opened at $26.36 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43 and a beta of 0.92. COPT Defense Properties has a 52-week low of $22.53 and a 52-week high of $34.22.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts predict that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.305 dividend. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. This is a boost from COPT Defense Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.19%.

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.