Marshall Wace LLP Purchases 451,043 Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,531,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 451,043 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust were worth $14,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PDM. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 809.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth $95,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth $105,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of PDM opened at $6.56 on Monday. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.81 and a 12-month high of $11.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $816.37 million, a PE ratio of -10.42 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $7.08 and its 200 day moving average is $8.57.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. The firm had revenue of $143.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.16 million. Research analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -79.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PDM. Baird R W downgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

About Piedmont Office Realty Trust

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.